We remain committed to empowering organizations with data-driven insights, not just for today but for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead: Zaid Kamhawi of Qarar

The Silicon Review

“We excel in crafting advanced credit decisioning solutions and risk mitigation strategies, critical in the prudent lending and overall financial health of institutions.”

Digital transformation is profoundly impacting various industries, and Qarar stands at the forefront of this revolution. Qarar plays a pivotal role in helping businesses in the digital lending sector to embrace digital technologies and analytics. This results in increased operational efficiency, greater opportunities for innovation, and an enhanced overall customer experience. Notably, Qarar places a strong emphasis on the growth potential of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly within the context of Saudi Arabia. This strategic focus aligns with the rapid changes driven by Saudi Vision 2030, which is reshaping the social and economic landscape of the country. The Saudi market is of paramount importance to Qarar, and it has recently partnered with Biz2X to introduce Saudi Arabia’s first-ever cloud-based SME lending platform. The primary objective of this platform is to empower small businesses by providing them with improved access to financing resources.

Biz2X is a global FinTech technology and financing provider with an established presence in the USA, India and Australia. Through its Biz2X^® digital lending platform, it has successfully facilitated funding exceeding USD 10 billion.

The Silicon Review contacted Zaid Kamhawi, CEO of Qarar and here are his insights.

Interview Highlights

Please provide a brief summary of the events that led to the founding of Qarar.

The journey to Qarar’s founding was driven by a confluence of factors. We witnessed a pivotal moment in the financial landscape during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. It became very evident that many financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East were not fully equipped to make informed, data-driven decisions. This realization underscored a pressing need for advanced analytics and risk management solutions.

Qarar’s parent company, SIMAH (Saudi Credit Bureau), recognized this gap and seized the opportunity to bridge it. In 2013, it envisioned a regionally focused consultancy that would empower financial organizations with the tools and knowledge to navigate these challenges effectively. Zaid Kamhawi was appointed as CEO to drive this vision forward, and Qarar was established with a resolute mission: to be the leading credit decisioning company in the region providing sophisticated risk analytics for smarter, data-backed decision-making. This mission remains at the core of our identity, and it has propelled us forward as a trusted leader in the financial analytics and decisioning space.

Fast forward 10 years to current times, where digital transformation and innovation has rapidly emerged as a seed from the ground to blossoming as technology that has radically changed the way lenders interact with consumers. In parallel, so has our mission, and we stand strong in our quest to be the prominent digital platform provider in the region.

In essence, Qarar’s founding was a response to a critical need, a commitment to innovation, and a vision of empowering organizations through the transformative power of data.

Q. As a leading data science and advanced analytics company, what are Qarar’s key focus areas?

Qarar’s strategic focus areas are the foundation of our expertise, each playing a pivotal role in today’s financial landscape. With a strong focus on data-driven decisioning solutions, our mission centres on the transformation of credit decisions, with an increasing focus recently on SME lending. We have set a clear goal to empower automation and digital enablement across financial institutions and FinTechs, revolutionizing the way they assess, process, and make critical business decisions, while reshaping the landscape of consumer and SME credit decisions.

Q. What strategies do you have in place to encourage innovation in your organization?

Innovation is at the heart of Qarar’s culture. We have established a multi-faceted approach to encourage and nurture innovation. We actively champion innovation by the fact that a Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) is part of Qarar’s C-Level team. Training has always been a high priority for Qarar. We encourage continuous learning by reimbursing any employee who achieves relevant certification from online platforms such as Udemy. We also offer cash prizes to any employee who utilizes the growing array of generative AI tools to improve their business unit performance or the company as a whole.

Q. Can you provide us with a success story describing the challenges your clients faced and how Qarar helped them overcome those challenges?

Qarar built a cloud-based mortgage marketplace in Saudi Arabia for a key government body. Our solution helps identify and assign mortgage subsidies to eligible citizens across more than 20 mortgage providers. Approvals are instant – just three seconds – through more than 300 decision trees across 10 mortgage products, processing 600 decisions per second. Such is the success of this platform in transforming the mortgage market, that the service won a prestigious regional award in 2021.

Q. No doubt Qarar is charting new territories in this segment. Given how frequently circumstances change, what plans for transformation are you pursuing to remain relevant now and in the future?

Adaptability and foresight are key to our strategy. We are extremely agile, and we know the market very well — the current snapshot and what we can expect in the future. We’re focused on several transformative initiatives to stay ahead.

We tune our product development initiatives to keep pace with emerging trends in machine learning and AI, while our Data Science team are continuously innovating by using alternative data sets to build more accurate credit models. Qarar’s cloud strategy drives us to deploy more of our services in the cloud across the region.

We are witnessing the rise of SMEs in the region, and we are actively deploying an SME lending marketplace ecosystem together with our partner Biz2X. Our common goal is to help SMEs seeking finance, as well as lenders by providing a technology platform to process and acquire new clients, and ecosystem layers to plug in and provide their services.

As the financial landscape continues to evolve, Qarar remains committed to staying at the forefront of data science and analytics. We continuously invest in research and development, ensuring that our clients benefit from the latest technological advancements and data-driven insights.

Lastly, and perhaps most important of all, our commitment to client-centricity remains unwavering. We actively seek feedback, ensuring our solutions remain aligned with client needs.

In summary, our transformation plans revolve around innovation, collaboration, business and market acumen, and a client-focused approach, ensuring Qarar remains a trusted partner in the ever-evolving landscape of decision analytics.

Q. Is there anything you would like to add before we wrap up?

We would like to express our gratitude to our clients, partners, and the entire Qarar team. Our journey has been marked by collaboration, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence. We remain committed to empowering organizations with data-driven insights, not just for today but for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Zaid Kamhawi | CEO

Zaid Kamhawi is a dynamic and forward-thinking leader with a profound commitment to the company’s corporate direction and strategy. With a focus on long-term vision and innovative service delivery, Zaid has played a pivotal role in driving significant growth for Qarar since the company’s inception 10 years ago.

Under Zaid’s capable leadership, Qarar has grown from strength to strength, making notable strides in the industry. His dedication to excellence and commitment to pushing the boundaries of the financial services sector continues to inspire the entire team at Qarar. His visionary outlook and passion for driving positive change make him a respected figure in the corporate world.