Banks in Qatar have managed to grow their asset even during these trying times by adopting prudent risk management policies. Overall, the entire banking sector has maintained decent growth in the past few months. According to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) data, the total domestic credit by banks in Qatar has risen by QR5.53bn to reach QR1.03 trillion in September this year while total customer deposits of the commercial banks increased to QR879.88bn at the end of September this year.
Since the beginning of March 2020, the financial markets across the world have been going through an unprecedented period of volatility and uncertainty. Liquidity crunches, increased Non Performing Loans (NPL) ratios, significant exposure to real estate assets and cybersecurity threats, to name a few, are posing a serious challenge to global banking industry.
Governments, central banks and regulators have all been looking at different ways of minimising the impact of this pandemic on the local, regional and global economies.
Banks in Qatar have overcome this pandemic by adopting new technologies. For the last few years, banks in Qatar have been embracing digital trends to achieve operational and cost efficiencies, align with changes in regulations and policies and adapt to the shifting behaviours of their customers. The banking sector in Qatar is embracing new technologies and adopting new Fintech strategies that is helping them enhance their overall customer experience and increase process efficiencies.
The Fintech term, which stands for Financial Technology, has become popular in recent years, with the advent of Internet banking, mobile banking and the new means of digital payments and e-wallets. Fintech has come a long way in the recent years, thanks to the new technology developments and healthy Venture Capitalist appetite.
Nearly every major bank in Qatar offers an Internet and mobile banking solution in addition to their existing “brick and mortar” services.
After COVID-19 response measures were implemented by authorities, digital channels have seen a surge in the number of users, resulting in a higher number of transactions being performed through these new touchpoints. Services such as mobile payment, credit card apps, online loan applications and mobile money transfers are replacing physical interactions between the banks and their customers and rapidly raising digital banking adoption among Qatar’s population.
Banks are rapidly moving from a ‘one-size fits all’ model where they traditionally sell products to all customers, to a model where customer data is intensively harvested to customise services for the needs and preferences of every customer.
