Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has been appointed as the corporate champion of the upcoming Innovation Challenge 2018 that will be held in September. This means that the bank will be bringing their corporate know-how to the table to collaborate with selected fintech firms—to develop an account receivables/invoice factoring service for SMEs that is seamless, paperless and secured.

ADCB identified the problem that fintech startups will be innovating to solve, as a corporate champion perk.

The result of their joint efforts will be presented at the 2018 FinTech Abu Dhabi Summit on 17 September to an audience of financial institutions, regulators, professional services firms and start-ups from local and global communities. The solution will serve as proof that efficiencies and regulatory outcomes can be improved in the banking industry.

The Innovation Challenge 2018 will be the second iteration of the event, held by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and KPMG Lower Gulf Limited (KPMG LG).

ADGM and KPMG LG has also issued a global call to action inviting local and global fintech entrepreneurs to apply for the opportunity to work with the designated Corporate Champions.

Mr. Krishnakumar Duraiswamy, Head of Trade Finance at ADCB said:

“Trade Finance Industry has been actively looking at areas for innovation to change the landscape of trade and supply chain finance.  Trade Finance specifically for SMEs in the UAE is core to our business and hence we chose domestic trade finance as an area for this challenge.

We will work with fintech to create a platform that will not only digitalize the flow of documents, but also create financing capability of these transactions which helps in driving working capital finance for corporates in the UAE”.

KPMG will provide their expertise in managing the innovation process, while ADGM claims that they will be assisting successful fintech firms to tap into market opportunities in Abu Dhabi.

Heading the Charge for Fintech and Bank Convergence

While many fintech organisations set out to disrupt incumbent, costly and often pricey banking processes, many nations across the globe have seen a merging of fintech companies with the banks they formerly sought to overhaul. In USA, only 18 fintech startups were acquired by top 50 USA banks, but eight of those occurred in 2017, the highest number of the region.

Banking organisations will usually gain a tested higher efficiency solution out of the deal, be it a partnership, investment or buyout, while the fintech firms have access to data, experience, and levels of access they would not otherwise gain in a short amount of time.

A Factor Not Lost on the Innovation Challenge 2018’s ADGM

Mr. Wai Lum Kwok, Executive Director (Capital Markets), Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM, said:

“The close collaboration between regulator, corporates and FinTech start-ups is the hallmark of a sustainable and effective approach to embracing innovation in the financial sector. ADCB has been an active champion and partner of ADGM in steering the innovation agenda.

This year’s Innovation Challenge is about promoting real adoption and business use cases of innovation, and we are excited to be working with ADCB to road-test a new solution which can be applied and adopted across the banking ecosystem.”

The organisers hope that their efforts will serve as a catalyst for collaboration between corporate institutions and fintech startups seeking to grow in the UAE market.

This initiative serves as a catalyst for collaboration between corporate institutions and FinTech start-ups.

Fintech News Middle East is a proud media partner and will also be attending the event.