The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) organized at its main headquarters in Riyadh, the first edition of a workshop titled "Digitalization, Innovation and Fintech in the Financial Sector", this was on Thursday 23 Safar 1443 H, corresponding to September 30, 2021 AD.
The workshop saw the participation of close to 60 experts representing banks, insurance companies and financing companies operating in the Kingdom, as well as prominent and active financial technology companies, and financial technology experts and stakeholders. The workshop came as a part of a series of workshops organized by the Saudi Central Bank to promote competition and innovation, and reinforce the financial technologies sector, aiming to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia one of the global pioneers in the field. Ultimately, this contributes to the financial development program's digitalization, entrepreneurial support Fintech development initiatives, in order to meet the expectations and goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
The Deputy Governor for Development and Technology at Saudi Central Bank, Ziad bin Bander Alyousef, opened the workshop by greeting attendants and pointing out how much progress was made in the past period towards the realization of the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. As there was an ever-increasing adoption of digital financial service technologies, which have proven their effectiveness as they have allowed the financial sector to face a crisis of the size of the Covid-19 pandemic. "the Saudi Central Bank, as part of its goal to constantly develop the financial sector in line with the latest regional and global economic developments, launched several initiatives in various sectors, among which is "Saudi Fintech" that was launched in April 2018 in cooperation with the Capital Market Authority", said Deputy Governor Ziad Alyousef. Noting that the goal of these initiatives is to transform the Kingdom into an important global hub for financial technologies, thus supporting its status as the biggest international securities market in the region, and creating an environment conducive to true prospective financial sector investments. The Deputy Governor added that the Saudi Central Bank designed a Sandbox simulation to better understand and assess the impact that these new technologies would have on the Kingdom's financial sector, further solidifying its position as a global financial center equipped with smart technologies, and allowing the regional and global companies that wish test newly produced digital solutions to do so in a tangible environment in order to launch them within the kingdom in the future. There currently 32 companies that were authorized to utilize the Sandbox simulation after successfully passing all requisite testing procedures.
Mr. Alyousef affirmed that the realization of these initiatives, which constitutes a foundational pillar for an ambitious financial overhaul, requires the cooperation and persistence of all parties, noting that the Saudi Central Bank always aims to enhance constructive cooperation between all partners, including banks and financial technology companies, to promote progress and innovation in provided financial services, realize overarching financial goals, and encourage fair competition in the sector, for the collective benefit of all sectors.
The workshop was divided into 3 consecutive sessions. The first session was dedicated to discussing "Trends of Fintech" and their impact on the financial sector, as well as the impact that the newly-designed financial technology strategy, planned for launch in the near future, will have on the banking sector.
The second session tackled the subject of "partnerships between Fintech and financial institutions" and the role that financial technologies will play in the digitalization of active banks. In addition, ways banks should respond to the strategic and operational risks involved in the use of such technologies, their inherent challenges, and some of their practical solutions, to promote investment opportunities and partnerships between banks and financial technology companies.
Finally, the third and last session delved into the subject of "Digital Supervision" through the development of financial sector controls, and the preparation of regulators and financial institutions to adopt Regtech/Suptech, in order to modernize the Kingdom's approach to control and oversight.
