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The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) undertook many important initiatives during the past year to support the financial technology sector in Qatar, said QCB Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani addressing the launch of the ‘National FinTech Strategy’ on Wednesday.
He said the QCB issued six licenses for digital payment services, including electronic wallets, payments and instant transfers.
“Digital banking services have also been enhanced through the adoption of the Himyan card, which is the first local prepaid electronic payment card,” the Governor said adding that the bank issued regulations for electronic payment services and set up a sector concerned with market development and innovation to facilitate the transformation of our financial services sector.
He said the Qatar Central Bank has also strengthened the role of regulatory oversight by emphasizing the role of supervising financial technology, in addition to that, the QCB has also been keen on strengthening cooperation with other agencies and institutions operating in the country.
“Our financial technology strategy is a milestone towards our broader drive to develop the leading financial services sector in Qatar while taking advantage of the infrastructure that the country has invested in as part of Vision 2030,” the Governor said.
The QCB is keen to implement the financial technology strategy by setting regulations that include modern digital banking services, crowd-funding, open banking services, insurance technologies, and various emerging technologies such as cloud services and digital know-your-customer, done through several initiatives to be implemented in three phases.
Assistant Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Ahmed bin Khalid Al Thani gave an explanation of the main features of the strategy over the next five years, where a set of initiatives aimed at implementing the Qatar FinTech Strategy centered around a set of pillars were identified, and it is expected that this approach will provide tangible advantages over the next five years, especially in light of the spread and growth of financial technology in Qatar.
He pointed out that the Qatar FinTech Strategy was developed to include four main axes: establishing a pioneering infrastructure for financial technology, priorities in areas of innovation and growth in the financial technology sector, developing human capabilities related to financial technology and the impact of financial technology on society.
He indicated that the strategy includes several initiatives that require cooperation at the level of the authorities concerned with the financial technology system, with the Qatar Central Bank assuming the role of the leader in this system.
