LONDON: International fintech companies risk struggling to establish themselves in Gulf markets if they assume strategies that worked in their home countries will translate directly to the region, business executives warned at the UK-GCC Strategic Dialogue. Companies seeking to expand in the Gulf must understand local customers, meet high expectations for digital services and secure the necessary regulatory approvals, speakers said during a discussion on financial services and economic connectivity. Chair of CFI Financial Group Federico Cirulli said his experience in retail investment operations in London and the UAE had led him to realize that businesses could underestimate the sophistication of customers in the region. “If UK companies or any global company wants to penetrate the EU markets, or any company market in GCC thinking to adopt the home market strategy, I’m not sure they are going to succeed,” Cirulli said. Part of this, he said, was because customers increasingly compare financial platforms with the best services available internationally, rather than limiting their expectations to what local competitors offer. The shift toward mobile-first financial services has also raised expectations for convenience, functionality and access to international markets, with Cirulli noting that companies needed to understand customers’ wider ambitions. Cautioning against assuming that simply making a product available would be enough, Cirulli called on businesses to properly commit to markets they enter, adding that access alone “is not enough. It is important to trust and knowledge across the market” he said. Sharing the panel with Revolut Chair Martin Gilbert, Floward  CEO Abdulaziz Al-Loughani, and KNET Chief Executive Esam Alkheshnam, Cirulli said there was a general sense that standardized international models would not work in the Gulf. Instead, the panel collectively suggested that businesses embrace local conditions if they want to build the customer trust necessary to make their presence in the region worthwhile.