The Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences at the Arab American University, in cooperation with the Association of Banks in Palestine, organized a banking day to discuss digital transformation and present the most important electronic services with the presence of representatives of Palestinian banks and a huge number of university students.
The Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Muayad Abusaa, inaugurated the events of the banking day with a speech in which he welcomed the attendees, and conveyed the greetings of the University President, Prof. Dr. Ali Zedan Abu Zuhri. Dr. Abusaa said: “We are meeting today to inaugurate the events of the banking day with the presence of a group of deep-rooted banking institutions for the sake of sending a clear message entitled "Together towards serving our society, ride the train of knowledge and spread awareness in the field of financial technology among the young generation of all specializations."
Dr. Abusaa continued saying: it is undeniable that the great global digital acceleration in various fields imposes on us, as universities before you as banks, diligent and permanent follow-up so that we do not fall into the gap of time and thus become at the back of digital and technological giving compared to others in the world as we aspire to reach the peak.
For her part, Dr. Rasha Abbadi, chairman of the Banking and Financial Sciences Department, confirmed that the banking day serves to discuss digital transformation, technological and technical acceleration and its use in order to advance the level of the Palestinian banking and professional services.
The Director General of the Association of Banks in Palestine, Mr. Bashar Yassin, explained that the Association is keen to cooperate with higher education institutions in all governorates of the country to educate students on banking matters.
Mr. Yassin added that "digital transformation" is a central matter in the banking sector in light of the global digital transformation, which the Association seeks to keep pace with since the banking infrastructure in Palestine is constantly responsive to digital transformations. He indicated that this banking day aims to bridge the gap between the local market and students in light of digital transformation through increasing students’ awareness of digital banking services as this sector is the compass of the Palestinian economy to accelerate it towards achieving goals.
Mr. Yassin stated that banks are keen to adopt the use of technology in all transactions and activities, and continuously develop their banking channels that were totally dependent on branches and offices to be digitally self-managed by the users through its digital banking services. He added that banks continue to update and develop all services in order to keep pace with all developments and meet the needs of all sectors. Banks are also keen to provide better and easier banking services at a much lower cost than it used to be, which helps move to digital economy and strengthening digital payments sector in Palestine, Mr. Yassin added.
In his speech, the Dean of the Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Dr. Abdelbaset Rabaiah, thanked the Association of Banks in Palestine and bank representatives for their presence and participation in holding the banking day, which comes within the annual plans aimed at educating students and providing them with new matters in the field of financial and banking sciences.
The banking day included several lectures, where the lecturer at the Faculty of Administrative and Financial Sciences Dr. Sharif Abu Karsh, gave a lecture in which he reviewed the history of digital transformation. Moreover, Ms. Diala Abdel Wahed, chairman of the Electronic Payment Channels Department at the Bank of Palestine, spoke about digital transformation and international developments. .
The Director of the Channels Department at the Arab Bank, Mr. Qusai Maali, presented an explanation of the electronic channels used in Palestine by the banks. The Director of the Marketing and Public Relations Department at the Palestine Islamic Bank, Mr. Ibrahim Al Salman, also presented an overview on Islamic banking and digital transformation as well as the fact that it has become an essential part of the strategic plans of the Islamic banks in Palestine and the world.
