AI holds great promise for UAE banking

By HassanAI Ali Mansoor

AI is already leading transformational developments in the global banking sector. Luckily for the UAE, due to the farsighted vision of its ruler Sheikh Muhammad, the banking sector of the UAE has continued to ride the wave of robust growth and development.

What are some of the areas that the banking sector of the UAE can tap for incorporating AI as a way of life?

First, in an environment where efficiency and cost cutting is the new mantra, AI application can offer substantial cost saving across the entire banking sector.  Date driven automation can enable seamless integration of various products and services offered by banks and enable the embedding of solutions across the entire network of a bank.

Second, banks can “front end” algorithms for identifying customers, authenticating their credentials and dealing with them.  AI can thus enable the entire concept of bank’s teller’s interfacing with clients to be replaced by bots, voice assistants etc.  This transformation can make banks ‘leaner’ and more efficient.

Third, as technology comes with its pitfalls and cybercrimes are increasing by the day and a bank’s own customers are vulnerable to such attacks, banks should utilize AI to neutralize these threats.  AI can be used to asses, detect risks and to close the gaps with a view to avoiding customer frauds, money laundering etc.  In other words, AI can be used by a bank to not only as a watchdog but as a mechanism that can enable the bank to purge unwanted malware and cyber tools that are used by cyber criminals to prey on innocent people.

Fourth, AI has the potential to detect ‘patterns’ and do a predictive analysis of market trends.  Algorithms follow us during “Google searches” and identity behavioural traits that can predict how we are likely to act in the future.  All this precious ‘data’ enables companies to know our behavioural traits inside out.  Banks can similarly leverage AI to understand consenting clients’ behavioural patterns and thus predict future outcomes.

We aren’t waiting for the future.  The future has arrived. Those UAE banks that are looking to thrive and prosper in this Century must understand transformational potential of AI. Time for manual jobs and tasks is over.  Instead, it is now time to leverage the benefits of AI and to embrace technology for the betterment of banks.