عربي

Suez Canal Bank Participated in the World Union of Arab Bankers (WUAB) Conference “Beyond Financial Inclusion: Charting the Path to Inclusive Growth”

Suez Canal Bank Participated in the World Union of Arab Bankers (WUAB) Conference “Beyond Financial Inclusion: Charting the Path to Inclusive Growth”

Shehab Zidan: Digital Transformation and data integration are among the key pillars for enhancing the efficiency of supply chain finance.

Suez Canal Bank participated in the conference “Beyond Financial Inclusion: Charting the Path to Inclusive Growth”, organized by the World Union of Arab Bankers (WUAB) under the patronage of the Central Bank of Egypt.

The conference is considered a regional and international platform that brings together leaders from the banking and economic sectors, experts, and decision-makers, confirming the bank’s role in supporting the transition toward a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

The bank’s participation comes as part of its continuous efforts to support the directions of the Egyptian government and the Central Bank of Egypt toward expanding financial inclusion, increasing access to banking services, and enhancing the availability of banking products to meet the needs of different segments, especially with the rapid developments in digitalization and the shift toward a cashless economy.

In this context, Mr. Shehab Zidan, Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Suez Canal Bank, stated during his participation in a panel discussion titled “Digital Transformation and Supply Chain Finance for MSMEs” that developing this sector mainly depends on achieving integration between all elements of the ecosystem, including data infrastructure, regulations, and technology, in addition to enhancing cooperation toward creating a national digital platform that supports efficient supply chain finance.

He explained that credit assessment is one of the main pillars of supply chain finance, especially with the limited availability of financial data for some companies, noting that banks are moving toward using alternative data, especially behavioral data, to assess customers’ creditworthiness.

He also highlighted the important role of the Central Bank of Egypt in supporting the availability of credit data through credit scoring via i-Score, in addition to digital projects led by the Ministry of Finance through e-Finance and e-invoicing, which help in building more integrated databases, especially when combined with other data sources such as telecom companies, supporting faster and more efficient credit decisions.

He confirmed that the development of customer expectations is a key driver for improving banking services, as fast financing and instant decisions have become essential parts of the customer experience, pushing banks to adopt modern evaluation models based on data-driven behavioral scoring.

He added that the Central Bank of Egypt’s expansion in digital solutions, especially e-KYC, helps simplify procedures, improve customer experience, and reduce complexity caused by multiple touchpoints.

He also pointed out the importance of continuously developing the regulatory and legislative framework to support the expansion of digital solutions such as e-invoicing, which enhances the efficiency of financing processes, noting that supply chain finance is one of the most stable financing tools as it depends on real transactions and customer behavior, improving the quality of credit portfolios.

He further emphasized that creating a national digital platform for supply chain finance is an important strategic step, as it helps collect and enhance data reliability, supported by a flexible regulatory environment that allows wider data availability. He added that developing specialized banking platforms provides more room for innovation by integrating the customer ecosystem within these platforms, enabling banks to offer integrated solutions beyond traditional financing and support different customer needs.

This participation reflects Suez Canal Bank’s keenness to strengthening its role in supporting financial inclusion by offering innovative banking solutions, expanding digital services, and supporting SMEs, contributing to sustainable economic growth.