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The Middle East's Biggest e-Banking Conference

7/28/2001

Dubai, UAE - July 28, 2001 (PRN): Banks may not be known for being at the cutting edge of any kind of movement, but in the Middle East the banking community is the true pioneer of all things 'e' -- no other regional industry comes close in ambition, or in the scale of projects being implemented.

While CRM, data mining, business intelligence, virtual warehousing and virtual customer branches may be a pipe dream to a large percentage of the region's business communities, Middle East banks, aware of increasing global and regional competition, have long been technology evangelists and have employed the biggest and brightest names from the IT world, harnessed the latest technologies and embarked on the most leading-edge projects to keep them one step ahead. The banking lead is no more evident than at ebank 2001, the region's largest and most important banking conference. This year, as last year, sees the key players from the domestic and international scene converge on the Gulf's e-capital, for the region's most important e-banking conference.

The UAE's growing reputation as the hub of innovation and cutting edge technologies also explains why a clutch of international banking and finance experts will be beating a path to e-bank 2001's door. The conference draws over 200 participants from around the world. It provides solutions for Middle East banks eager to position themselves in the crucial and rapidly expanding on-line banking market.

Produced by IIR in Dubai e-Bank 2001 will be the number one networking event for the Middle East's banking sector - providing unrivalled exposure to senior decision makers. The speakers' panel is a virtual who's who of e-banking expertise and the agenda is packed with case studies from around the globe.

The speakers include Dr David Travis, a senior consultant who has carried out e-commerce activities for a range of high-powered clients in the high-tech commerce and financial sectors including Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Thomas Cook.

Dr Travis explains that e-banking is ultimately not about technology - but usability. "It isn't a new software plug-in or a new design gadget or any other piece of technology", he says. "These sites share a passionate focus on usability".

He says that usability - or "customer experience" as it is sometimes called - has become important for reasons he refers to as the "three C's" of successful e-banking: Choice, Conversion rate and Cost reduction.

"First, customers have a choice. In the early days of the Web there was a saying: 'If you build it they will come'. But in the Web of today, they might not come back.

"People might use your badly-designed e-banking site if it is the only way to manage their finances. But they won't have much loyalty to you or your product - and that makes you very vulnerable to competition. And in the virtual world, your competitor is just a mouse click away.

"Second, users are there to be converted into customers. Assume you have people managing their account on-line - now what? How do you get them to buy other financial services: loans, share-dealing; insurance?. It is quite usual for a single usability test to increase the conversion rate - the ratio of 'lookers to bookers' - by a factor of three. What other initiative can you think of that would triple your sales?"

Dr Travis argues that focusing on usability reduces the costs of doing business. "Imagine a site that doesn't need on-line help, or even a helpdesk. A usable site will slash your support costs. In fact usability provides the highest return on investment of all web-consulting activities - the most measurable improvement for the least expenditure".

Other key topics to be discussed at e-Bank 2001 include Future Strategies For On-line Banking and International Trends within the sector. Financial products for the digital age; B2B portals; avoidance of fraud; and the outsourcing of banking operations are also included in an all-embracing agenda.

A host of distinguished speakers include Hanspeter Kurzmeyer, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse e-Business, Switzerland, Abdullah Allawami, e-Biz Solutions Manager of the Saudi American Bank, Steven Pinto, Senior Vice-President, Head of Retail Banking for Mashreqbank, R. Ganesh, Regional Operations Head, CEEMEA for Citibank N.A., etc.

Delegates to e-Bank 2001 can also attend one of two workshops - on Advanced B2B & B2C On-line Marketing Strategies and e-Business Essentials For Financial Institutions. Alternatively they can opt for a post-conference masterclass on Evaluating The Impact Of e-Enabled B2B Operations on Banking.

The impact of e-banking is such that Forrester Research estimates on-line banking acceptance could hit 30 per cent by the end of 2004. Just one reason why e-Bank 2001 is a conference no serious player in the banking sector can afford to miss.

e-Bank 2001 Conference
Dusit Hotel, Dubai - United Arab Emirates
29 September to 1st October 2001

Should you require further information on this press release, please contact:

Anca Westley
Senior Conference Manager
IIR Gulf.
Tel: +971 4 3512 777
http://www.iirgulf.com/e-bank

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