TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA HEAD of Retail Banking at IBQ Philip King has said that the retail banking sector looks healthy with strong opportunities for expansion. Speaking at the three-day MEED’s Middle East Retail Banking conference which started on October 3, in Dubai, King said that he sees the Qatar Central Bank’s regulations will certainly have a very positive impact on the short-term credit growth in Qatar and will protect the sector from “over-heating”. In attendance at the event were leading industry officials who discussed future trends and shared expert insights. In a panel session exploring retail banks of the future and strategies to maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, King spoke about the banking landscape in Qatar in light of the nation’s recent economic ratings and answered significant questions about the challenges of an over-banked market, products shifts in response to customer demands and product differentiation through, for example, mbanking and e-banking in a highly saturated industry. “The Qatari government is committed to developing the financial services sector in the country. Qatar economic growth shows strong signs of health with high GDP per capita and real GDP growth in double digits. Population increase and influx of expatriates will help leverage the bankable target audience and IBQ is strongly positioned to cater to this growth,” he said. “Qatar’s credit card industry is expected to grow by 20 percent annually driven by low credit losses, strong economic growth and more competition. Currently, the industry is earmarked with stable sources of funds with customer deposits accounting for 53.7 percent of banks’ funding on average. The differentiation in the marketplace will be led by investments in IT, technology and customer services delivery – three of which rank very highly on IBQ’s banking channels,” King added.