The fifth edition of the Banking Innovation and Technology Summit 2026 (BIT’26) has started today in Dubai, UAE. The event has gathered leading executives from both the public and private sectors to discuss the current opportunities and challenges facing the banking industry.
Artificial intelligence, digital payments, money transfers, and customer trust will be central themes of the conference. Bankers, fintech specialists, and technology leaders have assembled in Dubai for this one-day flagship event, organized by Khaleej Times, an English-language daily newspaper in the UAE.
The summit takes place against the backdrop of accelerating digital transformation in regional banks, where artificial intelligence, data, payments, and embedded finance are increasingly becoming integral parts of these institutions' growth strategies.
One of the key discussion areas will be the growing role of AI in payments, as well as the implications of transactions initiated by AI agents instead of humans. Payments will also be featured in a session titled 'Outrun Disruption: A Payments CEO’s Unfiltered Account'. Another important topic will be cross-border payments and remittances.
Among the high-ranking executives speaking at the summit are Deepak Mehra, Chief Economist of Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD); Nandan Mer, CEO of Dgpays; Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director of LuLu Financial Holdings; Roberto Mancone, CEO of duPay; Omair Ansari, CEO and Co-founder of ABHI; Rajeev Garg, Wealth Management Head at Citi UAE; Azamat Seitbekov, Founder and CEO of Yusr, as well as other senior executives from Arthur D. Little.