The International Retail Banking Summit, took place for the first time in Egypt by the global not-for-profit organisation Efma, concluded Tuesday. Decision makers, regulatory authorities and top banking executives from leading banks gathered to chart out their journey towards modernising the retail banking industry in the country. Top government officials and banking executives from the country and across the region discussed how to expand banking services to the masses, carry out innovation and digitisation in the banks, expand retail payments and address issues and best practices in the retail banking sector. The full day summit was organised to create engaging dialogue and thought provoking sessions with industry professionals, focused mainly on the themes of financial inclusion, customer experience and digitisation respectively. Participants discussed best ways of developing a more inclusive financial system by combining digital and physical channels for reaching out to customers, whilst ensuring that it remains relevant for an emerging market such as Egypt. Efma's premier event in Egypt was the organisation's first step to bring its global platform to the country. Thought leaders, decision makers and delegates from domestic and foreign institutions from across the financial services ecosystem including Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Central Bank of Egypt, International Finance Corporation, Commercial International Bank, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, QNB Alahli and Arab African International Bank actively participated in the summit. Speaking on the occasion, Fahim uz Zaman, Regional Manager – Middle East, Efma said, "Egypt has one of the most dynamic banking markets in the region. Our purpose is to reach out to the industry professionals and make inroads to discuss, debate and seek pragmatic solutions for the emerging issues and challenges in the sector." The benchmarking summit proved to be a great platform for leaders in the financial services realm to exchange views over developments of the rapidly transforming banking industry of the country. As a global not-for-profit organisation, Efma brings together more than 3,300 retail financial services companies from over 130 countries. With a membership base consisting of almost a third of all large retail banks worldwide, Efma has proven to be a valuable resource for the global industry, offering members exclusive access to a multitude of resources, databases, studies, articles, news feeds and publications. Efma also provides numerous networking opportunities through working groups, webinars and international meetings. True to its vocation, Efma has recently developed an Innovation portal which aims to identify and award the most innovative projects in the retail financial services arena.
