Change to drive growth of the card industry

Titled 'Riders of Change,' the conference speakers focused on the fast-evolving nature of the business and how the industry can continue to grow by embracing change.

Opening the conference, Mr. Abdulla Qassem, Chairman, Network International, called on the industry to adapt to the pace of change to continue to grow. 'While every business in the world is undergoing some sort and scale of change, we as an industry are particularly prone to it,' he said. 'Sitting on the crossroads of finance and technology, it is imperative that we as members of the regional card industry understand not just who our customers are today but how their needs will likely change over the coming decades.'

The card industry is undergoing several major changes that are poised to transform the way people transact with businesses. Today, money is increasingly a virtual commodity and with the introduction of new technologies, this phenomenon is expected to accelerate exponentially.

'Last year, we introduced contact-less cards into the region,' said Ram Chari, General Manager, Network International, in his opening address at the conference. 'This represents a major shift in how customers will pay for small transactions in the future - a huge opportunity for all sorts of businesses - from bus fare collection to paying for mobile content. If we can gear our infrastructure to support such changes, we can all ride the crest of the growth wave sweeping the region.'

A distinguished panel of speakers
A series of presentations by card industry's leading lights focused on the transformation and evolution of the business, from several perspectives.

Joydeep Sengupta, Associate Principal, Mckinsey & Company, who presented 'Perspectives on the GCC banking sector' had several new insights to share - including how economic development, shifting dynamics and evolving consumer attitudes in the region present new challenges.

Peter Weisberg of Cedar Management Consulting International meanwhile took a global perspective when he presented 'International developments in credit cards' at the conference.

His talk was an in depth analysis of what is making the news in the world of credit cards, including innovations and key trends for the future - new technologies, customer engagement approaches and regulatory factors.

Jerome Ajdenbaum, from Oberthur Technologies, who also spoke at the conference focused on the evolution of the contactless cards towards mobile contactless cards and how this will impact business landscape in the mid and long term.

Another speaker, Sylvain Croce from Welcome Real Time presented ideas on 'How to restore the value of cards and electronic payments to merchants.', where he addressed the subject of implementing consumer loyalty applications for merchants at the point of sale in order to increase customer repeat visits.