The future of payments and digital innovation depends on the ability to collaborate with traditional and new players in the banking and payments sector to solve real consumer and merchant needs.
As customer expectations rise –fuelled by the ever-improving user experience of digital services– their patience falls, meaning banks are constantly having to race to keep up.
Today's tech-savvy millennials, who have information at their fingertips, have underlined the need for a new business model that the property sector cannot ignore.
Currently active in the UAE, Lock&Stock is a free mobile app that allows students to earn points each time –one point for every three minutes– their phones are locked during a class.
Entrepreneurs in the UAE highlight banking services, and in particular the obstacles to opening a bank account, as their number 1 challenge according to entrepreneurship advocacy white paper released by Dubai Chamber and Roland Berger in 2018.
"Financing startups and SMEs is about bringing to life revolutionary and life-changing concepts. 'Investing in something you believe in,' and 'funding the future' are key drivers of these type of investments."
Huge gaps still exist in the Middle East and North Africa's startup funding ecosystem, but substantial recent exits and an improvement in the quality of pitches could be on the way to changing the status quo.
The Senior Vice-President and Head of Development Services at Bahrain Development Bank -who is also the Fund Manager at Al Waha Fund of Funds- on how her country's initiatives are enabling not just its own but the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem
The report, titled Helping Startups Access Funding and published in collaboration with Roland Berger, was released during an event in the Entrepreneurship Advocacy series run by Dubai Startup Hub, the entrepreneurial support arm of Dubai Chamber, at its head office in March.