Following his participation in the Second Corporate Restructuring Summit, which took place in Dubai on the 11th and 12th of September, we had the chance to meet with Dr. Bernd van Linder, Commercial Bank of Dubai’s Chief Executive officer, and to discuss with him the latest about the banking sector.
From Dr. van Linder’s perspective the banking sector is developing faster now than it has over the past 50 years, with technology and digitization driving the change. He also mentioned that banks and technology companies, especially FinTechs, are cooperating closely in this field.
Asked about the funding gap for Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Dr. van Linder encouraged the banks, large corporations and the governments to work closely together. Governments providing portfolio guarantees for SME customers facilitates banks providing financing. And large corporations have a role to play in qualifying SME’s and providing business to them. If banks, large corporations and the government will all work together, it will benefit the SMEs, the economy in general and the country as a whole.
As for the Commercial Bank of Dubai, the first half of 2019 was very good in all means. CBD was able to grow much faster than the market and increased their market share. In addition to that, the management is working on transforming the bank into a fully digital platform, both in the retail and the corporate commercial side as well.
He also said that: “CBD will continue its shift to a fully digital bank, and we will work to expand our businesses and digital channels, in order to enhance our customer’s experience in a secured way”.
