Need to stimulate growth in cards industry

Terrapinn, the organizer of Cards & Payments Middle East 2007, the eighth annual conference on world class cards and payments strategies, is inviting industry players to assess digital developments that are driving the market forwards. Taking place at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai from May 13th -15th, Cards & Payments Middle East 2007 is set to address a comprehensive list of issues and trends that affect the industry.

"This year's conference programme has been developed further to include topics that affect cards, payments and loyalty, all over a three-day period," said Ed Haines, Conference Director for Cards & Payments Middle East, Terrapinn. "With a speaker line-up consisting of the visionaries and decision makers who define the cards industry and are accelerating regional growth, this event reveals their pioneering business tactics and ambitions, and challenges preconceptions. In such a vibrant market, one of the biggest challenges the industry is about to face is the GCC currency union."

The conference programme will kick off on May 13th with the Loyalty Briefing Day, which will focus on building brands, customer relationships and strategies. The second and third days will have two concurrent streams running: the Cards Stream and the Payments Stream. Kicking off the Payments Stream will be a keynote focusing on the potential impact of GCC unification, evaluating SWIFT's challenges in the Middle East and North Africa region. Areas covered within this topic will include analyzing the cost impact on banks, clients and customers of unified payment areas.

The Cards Stream will lead with a keynote from Denzil Lawson, the senior vice president and general manager of MasterCard, MENA region. Presenting on extending card penetration and consolidating revenues in the Middle East, this keynote will provide insight to the industry players on how to decommoditise their card offering, in a market where differentiation and customer loyalty are increasingly difficult to maintain.

In 2006, Cards Middle East attracted a total of 1,273 attendees. These visitors were 41% from the UAE, with the remainder from the rest of the GCC, China, Australia, Indonesia, Libya, Latvia, Iraq, Morocco, Andorra, Italy, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Germany, France, Syria, Russia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Kenya, Iceland, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, India, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, Austria, USA, Canada and Greece.

The event attracts industry professionals from prominent payment associations and banks, to interact with card manufacturers, system integrators, and financial institutions, consultants and payment system developers. The conference is sponsored by Mastercard, ACI, Thales, Global Payment Services, Hightech Payment Systems and the business phone.