United Arab Bank announces participation in nationwide SCA Fintech Megathon

SHARJAH: United Arab Bank (UAB) has announced its participation in a first of its kind nation-wide Fintech Megathon, SCA Fintech Megathon 2021, launched by Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) and the Ministry of Economy (MoE) to promote further development of the fintech industry in the UAE.

The initiative will help innovators, financial institutions, regulators, and other ecosystem partners in the UAE collaborate, crowdsource and prototype fintech solutions.

Supporting United Arab Bank’s digital transformation journey, the mega innovation programme aims to make Fintech an integral part of the bank’s corporate culture and enhance the development of the fintech industry in the UAE.

The programme is powered by Fintech Galaxy’s FinX22 open innovation platform with the overarching theme of ‘Reimagining the Future of Inclusive Financial Services’.

The SCA Fintech Megathon 2021 will focus on finding fintech solutions for challenges facing the financial services sector. It will run until February 2022 on 2 sprints with hackathons, innovation challenges, workshops and training prototypes to address problems hindering the financial services industry.

Dr. Maryam Al Suwaidi, Acting CEO of SCA, said, “SCA’s initiatives are centred on establishing concepts and methodologies related to investing in technology and infrastructure, which serve network and information security, in addition to implementing a comprehensive digital strategy and using advanced technological solutions, particularly fintech and blockchain. SCA introduced another package of initiatives that will help our financial markets gain advantage over their global counterparts.”

Al Suwaidi added, “For the challenge, eight fintechs will be shortlisted for the first round, but only five will be competing for the demo day (finalists) with one winner being picked for this theme.”

“Among the outcomes from the UAB challenges in the SCA Fintech Megathon 2021 is to provide personalised experience to their investors and ensure that financial promotions are finely tailored to customers’ investment and financial goals. This will ensure that the right product promotions are matched with the right investors with the corresponding risk tolerance, saving investors time and effort in identifying what is most suitable for them thus increasing customer satisfaction and willingness to invest, ultimately leading to financial inclusion”.

Ahmad Abu Eideh, CEO of United Arab Bank, said, “Collaborating with industry experts helps us promote the Fintech culture and build the reputation and capability of the UAE in spearheading solutions in our sector. Our challenge in the Megathon involves using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Hyper-personalised Investment promotions. We hope our collaborations result in solutions that benefit the financial sector.”

United Arab Bank will partner with Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center, Sheraa, for the UAB Innovation Challenge, themed on using AI for Hyper-personalised Investment promotions.

Hyper-personalisation helps organisations leverage omni-channel data to drive personalised customer experiences in real-time. Customer experience is one of the top priorities of UAB. Building a journey that reflects the needs of the bank’s customer base can be challenging.

Financial institutions must adapt by harnessing the power of analytics and AI to make the necessary changes to survive and thrive. As UAB goes through its digital transformation, customer personalisation is no longer limited to targeted offers, but to the entire customer experience.