Mohammed Abdel-Haq

This study examines FinTech adoption in the Palestinian banking sector, highlighting its role in driving innovation, improving customer satisfaction, and ensuring competitiveness. Using an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and SmartPLS 4.0 software for structural equation modeling, the research investigates factors influencing FinTech adoption among Palestinian bank customers. Findings show high adoption rates, with nearly half of customers also using non-bank FinTech services. While most prefer FinTech solutions from their banks, many are open to switching providers for better service, convenience, or pricing. Brand strength, trust, and awareness significantly impact perceptions of ease of use and usefulness. Customers trust bank-provided FinTech for precision and reliability but remain concerned about security. A lack of customer awareness highlights the need for targeted educational campaigns. These insights confirm the selection of an extended TAM framework as being an appropriate analytical tool in the Palestinian banking sector, incorporating brand, trust, and awareness alongside ease of use and usefulness. It emphasizes the need for banks to innovate, strengthen security, and enhance awareness efforts to retain and attract customers in a competitive landscape.

This study addresses FinTech implementation challenges in the banking industry in Palestine. This was accomplished by adopting qualitative research methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with interviewees from the Palestinian Monetary Authority, banks, and FinTech companies. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo 12 software to identify themes in the interview scripts. Research outcomes suggest that FinTech development in Palestine encounters a range of multifaceted challenges, which can be categorised using the TOE (technological, organisational, environmental) framework. On the technological front, issues such as underdeveloped IT and telecommunications infrastructure, restricted mobile frequencies due to Israeli occupation, limited IT expertise, cyber risks, low digital literacy, and minimal FinTech awareness hinder progress. Organizationally, resistance to change, inadequate agility, limited digital skills, and slow Sharia compliance updates in Islamic banking impede innovation. Environmentally, the absence of a dedicated FinTech framework, unclear regulatory guidance, limited market size, and strict AML/CFT regulations create uncertainties for non-bank entities and restrict investment opportunities. Addressing these interconnected barriers requires coordinated efforts across legal, financial, and technological sectors to foster FinTech integration and growth in Palestine.

This chapter explores the integral role of taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) services in combating organized crime, with a specific focus on child sexual exploitation as highlighted by cases like Operation Stovewood. The research scrutinizes the socio-economic impacts of organized crime on individuals and communities, emphasizing the need for a collaborative approach to address these issues. It particularly examines the involvement of the taxi and PHV industry in these crimes and advocates for effective public-private collaboration in tackling organized crime. Organized crime, including activities like human trafficking and extortion, undermines societal stability, fostering violence and eroding public trust in institutions. The chapter presents a disturbing dimension of this crime: the exploitation of certain taxi/PHV drivers in child sexual exploitation scandals, as seen in investigations across cities like Rotherham. This revelation has led to a critical inquiry into taxi and PHV licensing, aiming to address regulatory gaps and ensure the safeguarding of vulnerable individuals. The research adopts a comprehensive methodology, analyzing Operation Stovewood as a case study and reviewing academic and government reports on the effectiveness of policies and legal frameworks governing taxi and PHV licensing. It also explores the ethical and legal responsibilities of regulating taxi and PHV services, balancing safety measures with privacy rights. Key to this discourse is the necessity of public-private collaboration in combating organized crime. The strategic positioning of taxi and PHV drivers as local surveillance agents offers a unique opportunity in this fight. The chapter proposes comprehensive training, legal structures, and ethical guidelines to empower drivers in this role, supplemented by technological advancements like CCTV in taxis and PHVs.

Unlike the banking industry, the insurers' risk management framework (RMF) is not governed internationally. For this reason, their risk management (RM) practices are not comparable. We surveyed insurance personnel regarding understanding risk and risk management (URRM), risk identification (RI), risk assessment and analysis (RAA), risk monitoring (RMON), and risk management practices (RMP). These insurance personnel were working at various hierarchical levels in life and non-life insurance. These insurers were operating in developed and emerging insurance market. We took USA and UK insurers as a proxy for developed insurance market. Meanwhile, Chinese, and Pakistani insurers were substituted for emerging insurance market. We analyzed the data through descriptive statistics and an ordered logit model. Our results showed that insurers' RM is stronger, but large differences exist at the hierarchical, insurer type and country levels. Apart from policy implications, our findings suggest that to achieve sustained competitive advantage insurers should minimize these differences.