MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA FINTECH FORUM

About the FinTech Forum

Held under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain and hosted by Bank ABC and AFS, the Middle East and Africa Fintech Forum is one of region’s biggest and most significant Fintech events. It has been organized annually since 2017 and is an exclusive congregation of global luminaries, world-leading experts and pioneers, central bank governors and C-suite executives, driving discussions around future fintech trends, innovation, and financial inclusion – the future of banking and finance itself.

Its 2019 edition saw over 900 delegates including six central bank governors and featured speakers such as ‘Sophia the Robot’, Brett King – Founder of Moven and international bestselling author, Henri Arslainian – PwC FinTech & Crypto Leader for Asia, the Chairman of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong, Aaron Heslehurst, BBC World News Anchor/Presenter and Dr. Pippa Malmgren, Former Chief Advisor to President George W Bush for Economic Policy and Financial Markets.

Why Attend?

Banking is beyond disruption. The financial landscape is rapidly changing. Historically, traditional financial institutions have been slow to react to change. Today, there is little room for complacency. A failure to adapt to the future could mean the rapid decline of banks, supplanted by agile, digital-only start-ups …

Featuring

Featuring

The Radical Transformation of Banking

Brett King

Well known FinTech banker and author Brett King takes to the stage to challenge our thinking on disruption and why renewing the existing banking systems is not an option. Brett explores the major disruptors through history, and demonstrates that the old ways of thinking about banking are past, arguing that banking is beyond disruption. Brett also provides his take on the future and foresees the blurring of industry sectors as BigTech offers more and more banking services, and banks offer a much wider range of products and services via open banking.

How AI, Crypto and Open Banking are Changing Finance

Henri Arslanian

In this session, FinTech guru Henri Arslanian explores the latest trends including the rise of crypto currencies, AI and open banking and why all of these areas are going to be so powerful over the next two years in transforming banking.

FinTech Challengers

Anthony Thomson

The tsunami of FinTech challenger banks has taken the world by storm. Serial entrepreneur Anthony Thomson was the first individual to set up two new banks in the UK; Metro and Atom Bank. Here he shares the story of his latest venture in Australia, 86400.

Micro Entrepreneurs in the New Age of Fintech: From Unbanked to Underbanked to Financial Acumen

Dr. Pippa Malmgren With Aaron Heslehurst

The financial inclusion of micro entrepreneurs is critical for global growth. In this session, Dr. Pippa Malmgren addresses the challenge from a global perspective and argues that leaders of the 21st century require imagination to address disruption in banking and finance and its implications for the global economy.

AI and Fintech

Inma Martinez

What does the new evolution of AI mean for society, banking and the future? How will smart cities impact on the way we do banking? How will AI enable greater financial inclusion?

Full 3^rd MEA FinTech Forum Agenda