Blockchain

Innovation in Financial Services & Green Investment in the UAE:
Fintech, Blockchain Technology & Artificial Intelligence

Financial technology – fintech – is completely redefining the way we spend, save, borrow, grow and move our money. The technologically advanced and innovative systems are largely elevating the level of service in banking, insurance and the way financial organizations operate. With the increasing use of blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence, the UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responding soundly to the shake-up and helping businesses in the UAE to adopt these changing trends.

mof’s innovative fintech initiatives put people first

With some of the most revolutionary digital financial products and services within its armoury, the MoF is among the world’s leaders in smart government organisations. Our most recent free digital product offering, the eDMobile electronic wallet, has drawn on the pioneering developments of successful fintech start-ups to enable MoF customers to pay all charges through their smartphones, replacing the need for plastic cards or a physical wallet.

MoF’s online and smart services provides benefits to individuals as well as the government and private sector and SME enterprises.

e-Dirham

First introduced in 2001 to reduce the efforts, errors and risks associated with manual collections, the e-Dirham includes a wide range of convenient financial functions and is seeing excellent growth (YOY 52.33% in 2018) and is helping to foster green finance in the UAE. MoF consults with acknowledged global experts for its fintech developments, one of which is the aim to transform e-Dirham into the national ePayment ecosystem, offering a viable alternative to services like VISA and Mastercard.

Smart Identity

As a service to government employees, MoF has linked the Emirates ID card to individuals and their salaries as a digital personal identification document. The MoF system uses encryption and smart features offered by the ID to validate data, including the holder’s biometrics. This saves time, effort and money, and accelerates the transformation to smart services.

Support for innovative
fintech entrepreneurs

Innovative ideas require innovative financial solutions, which the MoF provides through the impactful Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund aims to deliver financial backing worth AED2 billion to support the work of pioneering start-ups. The targeted financial risk mitigation and business development tools provided by the Fund help to facilitate innovation activities and contribute to the sustainable growth of the UAE.

eDMobile

The innovative eDMobile, launched in October 2018, supports smart government programmes and allows customers to easily access e-Dirham services. The free digital government service is an electronic wallet that includes all the customer’s payment cards, so it provides a safe and effortless replacement for a physical wallet filled with plastic cards. The application can be simply downloaded from Google Play or the AppStore to create a default virtual account that does not expire.

Smart Digital Channels

MoF has several smart digital channels in place to communicate with its internal and external customers: the MoF website, smart app, live chat, feedback and suggestion gateway, opinion polls, scale of happiness and various social media channels. Inquiries, information, services, suggestions and complaints can all be handled at the customer’s convenience, anytime, anywhere.

Innovation at the heart of MoF

MoF supports the aspirations of the UAE to be one of the world’s most innovative nations by 2021. The Innovation Lab is one such interactive platform developed by MoF. In addition, the MoF’s e-training is an interactive and innovative education and development system through which suppliers and federal employees can be trained in line with the government’s strategic and financial goals.

UAE’s AI Strategy for Sustainable Development

AI is predicted to boost UAE’s economic
growth by 182$ billion by 2035

In October 2017, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, launched the UAE government’s Emirates Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the first of its kind in the Middle East and a world benchmark approach. The UAE also became the first country ever to appoint a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, HE Omar bin Sultan Al Olama.

AI is predicted to have a significant positive impact on the economy of the UAE, boosting economic growth by 1.6 percentage points – or $182 billion – by 2035. This is according to a recent report by global consulting firm Accenture, which examined the impact of AI on 15 Emirates’ industries. Maximum impact is predicted to be in the financial services, healthcare, transport and storage industries.

6th Globally in Smart Electronic Services Index

The UAE ranks 6th in the world for implementing smart electronic services and 2nd in the telecommunication infrastructure list, according to the latest United Nations’ E-government Development Index. Regionally, the UAE leads the Gulf, Arab and West Asia countries.

How will the UAE build its AI capabilities?

The integration of AI into our daily lives has been strategically mapped out by the UAE upon a foundation of five critical activation points. These address the roles of AI across all aspects of life in the near and distant future – from big industry to SME and professional services, individual health and happiness to the education of generations to come.

STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT

Establishing executive AI teams and task forces that will engage strategically at the highest national and international levels, such as the World Government Summit

GOVERNMENT ACTIVATIONS

Activating programmes and initiatives in all government agencies on the applied mechanisms of AI and launching government accelerators of AI.

SAFETY & CONTROL

Identifying and developing global controls for the safe and responsible use of AI, including the appointment of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board, and the promulgation of government laws to ensure the proper use of AI.

PUBLIC ACTIVATIONS

Providing 100% of first-line services to the public through AI – including financial, medical, security and identification services and other routine functions.

TOP LEVEL SKILLS

Developing the capacity of top government leaders in AI and raising the skills of technology related jobs.

Blockchain Technology in Financial Services

Blockchain technology enables a distributed transaction ledger with identical copies that are maintained on the computers of each member involved. All members can view all the previous entries and enter new ones, thereby maintaining the transparency. Transaction after transaction is grouped in different blocks, eventually forming a long chain of blocks; hence, the name blockchain. As all transactions are made digitally, there is no need for a middleman, as there is in the traditional financial world.

Blockchain Technology Applications in the Financial Sector

Blockchain technology is revolutionising the financial sector by improving the way transactions are done while simultaneously introducing a highest level of transparency. The extensive layer of security is the main force behind the quick spread of the blockchain technology, pushing financial companies and banks to adapt to the changing trends.

Insurance

Blockchain is helping to reduce fraud and automate compliance in the insurance industry while also ensuring transparency.

Anti-money laundering (AML)
and know your customer (KYL)

Blockchain provides secure, immutable, distributed ledgers of transactions. This makes them potential magic bullets to ensure compliance and security.

Trade finance

Trade finance platforms based on blockchain increase efficiency, provide greater transparency, offer opportunities for new revenue, and lower cost bases.

Smart contracts

Smart contracts help in the execution of commercial transactions and agreements by automatically enforcing the obligations of all parties – without the added expense of a middleman.

The Magnifying Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Financial Services

The imaginative seeds of artificial intelligence have been with us for over a century, but mostly in the realm of academics or science fiction. Now, AI is gaining traction on the significant acceleration of recent decades and is fast being implemented in numerous everyday applications. Experts credit several reasons for this rapid development:

DATA AVAILABILITY

Data is the ‘fuel’ that powers intelligent algorithms and our digital world is churning out unprecedented quantities.

COMPUTING POWER

In the journey from the huge room full of computer equipment in the 1950s to today’s palm-held devices, processers have become efficient enough to analyse all that data, much faster and much cheaper.

ALGORITHM EFFICIENCIES

Radical breakthroughs in complex algorithms, such as speech recognition, continuously drive technological developments.

VOICE

No longer do users need to learn the language of machines. Instead, machines are learning to communicate with us and this development has brought consumers closer to AI. You can talk to a machine (verbally or digitally) and get things done.

VENTURE CAPITAL

Investments in new AI venture companies have risen sharply into the multibillion-dollar terrain, resulting in an explosion of interest and competition.

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