during the afternoon at the Center Stage of STEP Dubai 2026, the spotlight turned to one of the region’s most consequential industries: banking. The session, “Future of Banking in MENA: Challenges and Opportunities,” brought together policymakers, technologists, and financial strategists to dissect how artificial intelligence and modern infrastructure are reshaping financial institutions across the Middle East and North Africa.
What emerged was a clear consensus — digital transformation in banking is no longer a competitive advantage. It is a survival strategy.
Listen to the conversation:
Dr. Abdul Malik Al Jaber of the Balsillie School of International Affairs framed the transformation as both technological and geopolitical. As global financial systems fragment and regional economies diversify, MENA banks must evolve from traditional deposit-and-lending models into agile, data-driven platforms capable of serving increasingly digital populations. AI, he noted, is becoming central to credit modeling, fraud detection, and macroeconomic forecasting.
From the cloud infrastructure perspective, Ghada Elkeissi of Amazon Web Services emphasized scalability and resilience. Banks are migrating core systems to the cloud to unlock advanced analytics, reduce operational silos, and deploy AI-powered services faster. However, modernization must occur within strict regulatory frameworks, requiring close coordination with central banks and compliance bodies across the region.
Payments innovation also took center stage. Birce Arslan from Mastercard highlighted how customer expectations are evolving rapidly. Consumers now demand frictionless cross-border payments, embedded finance, and hyper-personalized financial products. AI is enabling banks and payment networks to analyze behavioral data in real time, detect anomalies, and tailor services to individual needs — all while strengthening cybersecurity defenses.
Adding a strategic advisory lens, Muhammad Babar of HODL CONSULTING spoke candidly about the operational challenges banks face. Legacy systems, fragmented data architecture, and internal resistance to change can slow transformation. Successful institutions, he argued, are those that redesign workflows end-to-end rather than layering digital tools onto outdated processes.
Throughout the discussion, regulatory alignment surfaced as a defining theme. MENA regulators are increasingly proactive, launching sandboxes and digital banking licenses to foster innovation. Yet banks must balance speed with prudence. The panelists agreed that collaboration — between financial institutions, technology providers, and regulators — will determine whether the region can scale innovation responsibly.
The broader takeaway from the session was cautiously optimistic. MENA’s youthful population, high smartphone penetration, and government-backed digital agendas create fertile ground for financial innovation. But transformation requires more than technology investment. It demands cultural shifts, executive buy-in, and a willingness to reimagine what a bank fundamentally is.
As the Center Stage discussion concluded, one message lingered: the future of banking in MENA will not be built solely in branches or back offices. It will be architected in data centers, cloud platforms, regulatory roundtables, and AI labs — redefining how trust, capital, and opportunity circulate in a digital economy.
