How financial services firms can thrive in the Middle East

To remain competitive and relevant in this rapidly changing business landscape, financial service providers in the Middle East must shift to become data-driven, transforming around their customers to become more human and empathetic. There is a huge opportunity for banks too to play a vital role at the heart of the communities in which they operate, shifting to delivering value-driven experiences that feel more connected and relevant.  

In our new eBook, ‘Middle East Financial Services’ Foundation for Growth’ we explore the major challenges and opportunities financial service firms face in the region. Our in-depth eBook covers how firms can accelerate secure and scalable innovation to develop new service offerings while evolving the way they run to turn 360 degree customer insights into action and growth. We review the opportunities around fostering a better connection between the front, middle and back office and look at the lessons from some of our biggest recent customer success stories.  

A flourishing market 

The Middle Eastern banking sector is embracing innovation as it begins to better leverage increased investment in digitisation. As the sector as whole becomes increasingly digital and data-driven, the new expectations this creates amongst customers has put traditional banks and financial service businesses under huge pressure to become more connected, digitally driven and seamless than ever before. 

Banks in the region need to accelerate their transformation journey to deliver more personalised, empathetic digital experiences across every channel. This transformation must happen around customer needs to deliver value driven customer experiences that feel authentic and personal. Businesses in the space, across the entire region, must become more human in the way they communicate too, able to relate to evolving customers' needs with connected services that offer tangible benefits and a higher degree of service. 

Established banks must harness new and emerging technology too to enable greater customer-centricity, better risk management capabilities and more flexible e-commerce offerings if they are to bridge gaps in service performance. Right now, financial institutions face three crucial challenges to remain competitive, stay relevant and position for long term success in an increasingly digital world of finance:

Becoming a platform and partner for growth: Financial service businesses in the Middle East must better manage embedded partnerships within their ecosystem to drive growth and deliver more personalised relationships.

Delivering smarter financial services: Creating a single view of customers and integrating the front, middle and back office is critical for financial service organisations across the Middle East. Businesses in the region must transform the way they operate to become more agile, flexible and data-driven for deeper, more empathetic customer understanding.

Being at the heart of the community: Banks and institutions must shift to more efficient partnership ecosystems while unifying their entire organisations to work smarter across every channel.    

Making the most of data 

So, how can traditional financial services firms beat back the competition and secure their place in the future Middle Eastern financial ecosystem? These firms must leverage data analytics and timely market insights, and personalised customer intelligence, to build new, more digitally driven and connected services. 

Building better relationships 

With its capacity to deliver intelligence, automation, and unified data, financial service firms in the Middle East are already witnessing how Salesforce can help them to develop personalised client relationships. Available with pre-built, 'out of the box' banking capabilities and AI that automatically discovers relevant client insights, Salesforce’s solution proactively recommends best next steps and helps banks accelerate growth.

The technology can support financial institutions in other ways as well. Acting as a single source of truth, Salesforce Financial Services Cloud provides intelligent, customised, and proactive advice on the solutions customers need, the market as a whole, and how to solve their challenges. Besides this, the platform can also be used to develop digital marketplaces for B2B customers, connected at global scale, and united by a common framework.

Getting greater insights

One bank already seeing the impact of Salesforce on its business is ila Bank in Bahrain. The company uses Salesforce technology to better understand what its customers need and want, and to connect with them on a channel of their choice. Plus, with Salesforce Mobile Shield, they are putting measures in place to enhance data security and IT monitoring. 

Making the most of new opportunities 

Financial services organisations in the Middle East know that to respond to the pressures of a post-COVID-19 world and move into the next stage of growth, they must evolve a key set of digitally driven strategies fast. 

As we shift into a more data-driven future of financial services in the Middle East, this means creating more personalised experiences on every channel while developing fine-grain customer understanding that can help unlock new service opportunities and more authentic connections. 

Salesforce Financial Services Cloud can help businesses across the entire Middle East region by bringing powerful data analytics capabilities and a wealth of timely market insights to accelerate transformation around changing customer needs. 

Discover how we can help your business today, download our eBook ‘Middle East financial services’ foundation for growth’ to learn more.