Jul 1, 2025

Image: Supplied There’s a reason why the Middle East’s flagship airlines are globally renowned. When you entrust your travel to Emirates, Etihad, Riyadh Air, Qatar Airways, or any among the long list of prestigious national carriers, you’re not just booking a flight — you’re stepping into a brand that represents the future of mobility and hospitality. Everything from ticket booking to boarding feels curated, effortless, and designed with the customer in mind. You breeze through check-in, relax in the lounge, and once on board, settle into an environment where every part of your journey is carefully choreographed. Now contrast that with the typical experience of a commercial banking client in the Middle East. It’s often more check-in counter than business class lounge — fragmented, manual, and slow. For the ambitious companies driving the region’s growth, this outdated model isn’t just inconvenient. It risks becoming a serious bottleneck in a fast-moving economy. So why is commercial banking stuck in the terminal, while its clients are ready for take-off? From tarmac delays to turbulence mid-flight Retail banking has embraced digital transformation. Consumers enjoy seamless apps, instant credit approvals, and always-on services. But when that same consumer puts on their CFO hat to manage business finances in a commercial banking platform, they encounter friction at every turn — multiple logins, disconnected services, and lengthy approval cycles. That’s largely because most commercial banks still rely on traditional banking architecture, characterised by siloed, legacy systems. Payments, trade finance, cash flow management and FX all live in different systems, sometimes even across different jurisdictions. The result? A disjointed experience that’s frustrating for clients and costly to serve for banks. Even the strongest banker-client relationships are undermined when service depends on manual processes and inconsistent data. Relationship managers are left firefighting, unable to offer proactive advice or real-time insights. In the business segment — from SMBs to commercial clients — where transactions are higher in volume and more complex, expectations for digital-first service are growing and the traditional model simply doesn’t scale. What banks need is a clear flight path, enabling them to elevate their commercial banking experiences. Priority check-in: fast, digital onboarding Onboarding a commercial client is undoubtedly more complex than onboarding a retail customer. Multiple signatories, group structures, regional compliance requirements — it’s a process that needs more than just a form and a signature. But complexity doesn’t have to equal chaos. Banks can now digitise the onboarding journey without losing rigour. Intelligent document capture, automated KYC verification, and configurable workflows can reduce onboarding times dramatically while ensuring compliance. Crucially, giving relationship managers a single interface to track and manage onboarding steps means fewer dropped balls and better communication. It’s like business class check-in — a dedicated process, designed for efficiency, with the right people and tools in place to make it seamless. An integrated flight path: unified, end-to-end digital banking Once you’re on board an aircraft, you don’t need to think about what the landing gear is doing, or whether the navigation system is talking to control surfaces. Dozens of highly complex systems are working in sync to get you from A to B safely and smoothly. That’s what clients want from commercial banking — a unified, end-to-end experience where the complexity is handled in the background, and someone onboard to make the whole ride comfortable (when help is needed). What that looks like in practice is one digital platform that brings together account management, payments, FX, trade finance, and reporting into a single, intuitive interface. Clients need real-time visibility across multiple accounts and jurisdictions. They want to initiate and approve payments securely from wherever they are, with confidence. And they increasingly expect cash flow forecasting, liquidity insights and credit options to be integrated, not bolted on. Banks that embrace composable platforms and API-driven architectures can make this possible without ripping out their core systems. It’s not about replacing the plane mid-flight — it’s about making sure all the systems talk to each other, so the customer experience feels like one smooth ride. Cabin classes and curated access: smarter entitlements and controls Not every passenger gets the same level of service on a flight — and that’s by design. A business traveller, a first-class guest, and a member of the cabin crew each have different roles, access rights, and experiences. The same logic should apply to commercial banking. CFOs, treasury teams, and finance managers each need tailored levels of access. One might need full control to move funds across borders, another may only need read-only access to account statements. Yet in many banks today, these entitlements are hardcoded or managed manually, leading to inefficiencies and sometimes even compliance risks. Modern commercial banking platforms allow businesses to configure user roles and transaction limits dynamically, without relying on custom IT interventions or frantic calls to relationship managers. That gives clients the control they need to operate securely at scale — and gives banks a more agile way to serve complex organisations. A profitable flight plan: cost-to-serve and smarter monetisation Arriving at your destination to find hidden fees can sour even the smoothest journey. For business clients, the same frustration arises when banking fees feel unpredictable or misaligned with value received. In today’s competitive market, banks need to rethink monetisation, not just from a revenue standpoint, but from a cost-to-serve perspective as well. With advanced billing engines and account analysis tools, banks can better align pricing models with service consumption — giving clients clarity, while uncovering opportunities for value-added offerings such as risk management, invoice financing, or advisory services. This kind of transparency doesn’t just build trust; it allows banks to deliver sustainable profitability while supporting the increasingly sophisticated needs of their business clientele. Final approach: from economy experience to first-class The Middle East has some of the most ambitious and outward-looking enterprises in the world. These firms want banking partners that match their pace — not ones still waiting for systems to sync. That doesn’t mean the human element is no longer relevant. Relationship managers remain essential to commercial banking — but they need modern tools and data-rich platforms to do their jobs effectively. It’s not about removing the personal touch; it’s about upgrading the overall journey from an economy experience to a first-class one. Progressive modernisation is how banks can achieve this. Rather than replacing core systems wholesale, banks can hollow out key functionalities from legacy platforms and rebuild them into a unified, cloud-native, microservices-based architecture. This approach introduces two critical layers: a system of engagement that delivers a seamless experience across channels, and a system of integration that simplifies backend connectivity. By eliminating silos and reducing complexity, banks can shift from fragmented service delivery to customer journey-led experiences. It’s a transformation that drives agility, reduces operating costs, and most importantly — ensures long-term value without disrupting day-to-day operations. Because the next generation of business clients isn’t just looking for service — they’re expecting excellence. And just like in aviation, loyalty in banking is earned at every touchpoint. The writer is the regional sales director – Middle East, Backbase. Tags