Delivering the Vision : A Technology Journey
In 2007 there was real excitement around a bank in the Gulf that wanted to do things differently . Al Khaliji had a powerful vision of developing the next generation of banking services , using the latest innovative technologies to fuel its expansion across the region .
Vedas was part of that journey from the early days . It was Al Khaliji ’ s first local technology partner and remains a key supplier of software and professional services – in fact , the only partner still working with Al Khaliji twelve years later thanks to its deep payments industry expertise and ability to support the bank with continual innovation and digital transformation .
Business Development Director Christine Rayes recalls that “ Banks in the Gulf were ahead of many of their European counterparts because they were able to invest in new technologies without worrying about legacy infrastructure . What clinched the deal for Vedas was our ability to offer instant issuance for EMV smartcards – something that hadn ’ t yet been done in Europe , where customers still waited several days for their new debit and credit cards to arrive by mail .”
The Al Khaliji infrastructure created a full lifecycle approach to card management , which was extremely unusual at that time . It included EMV card issuing and acquiring , as well as ATM and POS transaction switching and kiosk-based services . Back-office functionality was integrated on the same platform , including settlement , reconciliation and dispute management .
Vedas rose to the challenge of helping to build this new transactional banking ecosystem and began its enduring relationship with the bank ’ s technology team . The age of 24 x 7 payment processing , with improved transaction speeds , enhanced data availability and multi-channel customer interactions had arrived . Al Khaliji was one of the first banks in the region to move towards a flexible and scalable service-oriented infrastructure for card and non-card payments , setting the bar high for competitors to follow .
Over the last decade , the world of payments has continually evolved , with increasing need for open architecture and easier integration of new services . Al Khaliji ’ s original vision means the bank is always ready to adopt new ways of serving its customers as their preferences shift to digital and mobile channels and e-commerce has become increasingly important . Here too , Vedas is recognised as an industry leader , with its unique combination of world-class solutions experience and local knowledge . The company ’ s Apex suite of software solutions is designed specifically to address the functional and regulatory requirements of banks in the Gulf region and to complement solutions from Vedas ’ s global technology partners . landscape . “ Banks have been increasingly focused on building customer relationships through loyalty , big data management and analytics ,” explains Christine Rayes . “ At the same time , we have developed extensive tokenization and cybersecurity solutions to help clients address the risks of doing business in the online world .” Vedas has also become one of the region ’ s most experienced and accredited providers of mobile payments solutions .
The evolution of payments continues at a pace which means that there will always be new technology projects to enable change and innovation in customer-facing banking services . What does Vedas see happening in the Gulf market over the coming years ? Across the region , banks are facing increased competition in provision of payment services , with new entrants including technology platform providers and FinTech companies . The pace of technology change is faster than ever and there are big opportunities for innovation . Banks need to define new strategies to enable rapid and seamless delivery , focused on building strong relationships with customers and increasing revenue by introducing new services . Reputations will be established on the ability to innovate and willingness to embrace the next generation of new technologies . Security of transactions and customer data will be key to success , along with a focus on omnichannel payments strategies as the differences between payment types and markets become increasingly blurred .
In technology terms , this means handling real-time account-to-account transactions , contactless and NFC payments , QR codes , mobile P2P and strong authentication solutions . There are new possibilities presented by blockchain and future-proof payment hubs ; but there are also challenges associated with compliance and customer demands in an increasingly global payments market . Through its commitment to deliver innovative solutions in this space , Vedas has expanded its Apex Suite with new and exciting applications covering all the payments solutions made possible by those technological enablers , from blockchain , to instant payments and tokenization .
“ Vedas is on an exciting journey with Al Khaliji ,” concludes Christine Rayes . “ We are very proud to have continued this collaborative and trusted relationship with a highly valued client . As payments evolution continues , Vedas looks forward to supporting Al Khaliji ’ s vision for the next decade .”
Proud to be supporting Al Khaliji Bank with payment technology solutions
Since 2011 , this suite of capabilities has grown significantly to reflect the ever-changing payments