Arab Financial Services (AFS) has confirmed its participation as platinum and lead sponsor for this year's 'GCC Cards Summit' which begins next month in Bahrain.

The summit, which runs from October 21 to 22 at Ritz Carlton Hotel Bahrain, is the first regional cards forum to be held in the Kingdom, and will focus on future strategies to make tomorrow’s card businesses leaner, more efficient and profitable.

The forum has attracted a very strong line up of speakers from around the world with keynote addresses from EDB, Citibank and AFS.

'We are delighted to have AFS on board as a strategic partner for the Summit. AFS is a formidable, leading third party processing organization which has grown from strength to strength to ensure clients receive a very cost-effective and robust outsourced card issuing service, said Premal Patel, executive director of Veritas Investments, the organisers.

'The AFS address on the benefits of outsourcing will be one to watch out for during the Forum, ' he noted.

Shankar Sharma, CEO of AFS said, 'We are happy to be partners in GCC Cards summit and look to some stimulating discussions in this congregation of the opinion leaders of the payment card industry.'

'AFS is committed to the payment card industry in the region for over two decades and we welcome and encourage initiatives like the GCC Cards Summit which can shape up the future of payments in the region,” he added.

The summit will provide practical solutions to improve overall performance of card product strategies.

With the strategic, optional master-classes scheduled for Thursday (October 22) focusing on Sales and Service, Risk Management and Reputation Management, the Summit is focused on helping the industry players beat the current economic conditions.

'Working alongside AFS we are confident the Summit will deliver what the industry is looking for to create the next generation card business,' Patel added.-TradeArabia News Service