Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain (KFH), one of the leading Islamic Banks in the Kingdom and an integral contributor to the evolution of Bahrain’s Islamic Financial sector, recently organised a two-day FinTech Training Program in partnership with the ‘FinTech School’, a part of “Fintech Portfolio”, a US-based Fintech institution that helps financial entities and entrepreneurs to evolve and incorporate innovative Financial Technology solutions into their business model.

The event was held at the Sheraton Hotel-Bahrain and was attended by Mr. Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat, Managing Director and CEO of KFH Bahrain as well as members of the Bank’s Management team, and employees from the various departments of KFH Bahrain and KFH Kuwait.

A number of senior officials and representatives from Bahrain’s financial sector including representatives from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), various Islamic Banks, Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) have also attended the training program.

The program was facilitated by three FinTech entrepreneurs and financial services advisors from ‘FinTech School’, namely Mr. Amilcar Chavarria, Mr. Edwin Carlson, and Mr. Luigi Wewege, who guided the participants through the latest global FinTech trends and updates, covering key relevant topics such as the impact of Financial technology on banks and financial services; the application of the same on sharia-compliant products; the essence of Blockchain, its uses and types; digital transformation in retail banking, how Financial Technology is redefining banking models in the industry; as well as the shifts of Human Resources Management practices in the digital era.

On this occasion, Mr. Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat, the Managing Director and CEO at KFH-Bahrain commented: “The Kingdom of Bahrain is staying ahead of global trends in digital transformation and developing its ecosystem to encourage the growth of its digital financial services. We as institutions in the Financial Services Industry need to incorporate innovative state-of-the-art financial technology into our business models, and transform innovative ideas into viable products and solutions.

“From this standpoint, and in line with our commitment to continuously enhance our services and provide the utmost convenience to our customers, we at Kuwait Finance House perceive the importance of keeping up-to-date and being equipped with the latest industry trends and technological advancements affecting this dynamic sector, and are pleased to have partnered with Fintech School for organizing this specialized two-day Program.” Mr. Al Khayyat added.

The training program was concluded with a participative discussion session during which the attendees exchanged ideas and discussed with the facilitators the hands-on aspects of Fintech adoption and evolvement within the financial sector.