GCC's booming banking sector steps up IT spending to deliver value-added services

This trend among most banks across the GCC has put them on par with their global counterparts, according to a study done by Madar Research Group. The study says that 40 per cent of the nearly US$ 1 billion total IT spending by the GCC banking industry is devoted to IT infrastructure expansion and upgrade.

"High oil prices and booming economies have brought fresh dynamism into the banking sector. At the same time, it has highlighted security issues, because online banking exposes banks to frauds and other malpractices," says Diyaa Zebian, General Manager, Middle East & Egypt, eSolutions BEA. "It is therefore essential that banks spend on the right type of software to protect their operations."

"BEA is set to play an increasingly important role in arming the banks with the right solutions, including the application infrastructure software that is used by 70 percent of the top 100 global banks," added Zebian. "Banks and financial institutions can rely on BEA products and solutions to transform their organizations into customer-responsive, efficient and agile enterprises. Our recent gains in the region indicate that GCC banks trust our solutions for delivering high values services to customers."

BEA solutions are used globally by banks for Multi-Channel Delivery, Securities Processing, Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance and Wealth Management.

The Madar study shows that all commercial banks in the GCC offer full or partial Internet banking. There is also increased spending on contact centres, allowing clients to do almost all their personal and most corporate banking without leaving their desks and at minimal security risks.

The study concludes that GCC banks were undergoing relatively aggressive expansion in major IT systems. Secondly, there is a strong indication that the GCC banking sector is proactively pursuing serious upgrades in its IT infrastructure. The banks depend heavily on outsourcing, rather than having their own in-house development programs.

"Banks who are using well integrated application infrastructure have optimised the impact of their IT strategy by lowering the ongoing cost of IT ownership, increasing the business value delivered by prior investments and maximizing the business value delivered by new IT investments," added Zebian.