DIGITAL FIRST INNOVATION LEADS THE PACK: A TALE OF TWO BANKS

“…digital banking transformation is no longer an attractive option for African banks; it is imperative if they are going to survive”

The African Banker

The pace of change in the financial services sector in Africa is almost head-spinning. Banks and non-bank players are engaging customers in new ways in the hope of capturing new segments of the market or realizing more value from their current customers. An interesting market the banks seek to court is the Africans in diaspora.

·      Global remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) grew by 10% to $46B in 2018.

·      Remittance flows to many countries in the global South are larger than the official development assistance received from the West and more stable than private capital flows.

·      In some countries, even the ones that have respectable economies, the contribution of remittances to GDP is growing. During the period from 2004 to 2017, it grew from 0.93% to 7.47% in Ghana, from 12.31% to 18.70% in Liberia, from 2.59% to 5.85% in Nigeria, from 7.88% to 13.67% in Senegal and in Egypt from 4.24% to 10.06%. *

Access Bank Versus Sterling Bank: Two Banks, Two Approaches

Access Bank

Access bank offers Diaspora Banking to those living outside Nigeria with the promise that living in the diaspora ‘has never been a hindrance to offering you quality services’. They offer three products as indicated on their website: current account, savings account, and domiciliary account. The process for customers acquisition for these products is not any different from their typical account opening processes in their physical locations across the country. Download account opening documents, fill and send to an email address.

According to Access Bank:

How Can a Prospective Diaspora Banking Customer Submit Documents to Access Bank for Account Opening?

Diaspora banking account opening documentation should be submitted through the following means:

Scanned copies to be sent via email to [email protected] and

Original copies to be sent to Diaspora Banking Team, 1665, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Access Bank plc Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

This is laudable product innovation but direly lacking the edge to make it a successful product in the long-term. The processes are not digital first. Feedback is not near immediate. In fact, Access bank may not get back to you after submitting documents.

Enters Switch.ng

The bold announcement from sterling bank with its digital first approach is:

“Banking across borders has never been easy, until now!

Join Switch by Sterling today to gain easy access to multi-currency savings, cheaper transfers and the best lending, investment and insurance products in”

To address the same diaspora market, the offering from Sterling Bank clearly seems to have the edge with its easier customers acquisition process, digital first approach. Customers can download the app and get going with automated digitally enabled processes.

Banking products are more than just items with descriptions, they should be relationships with customers. Relationships with feedbacks and ease of access. Products of the future are built around this. Innovation is not done in a vacuum; it should be done from the viewpoint of the customers. Why should a product create pain instead of taking away pain?

 Courageous Patience = Speed Plus Resilience

It is a not a 100 meters dash in business. The process of innovation is continuous and we cannot reach any permanent conclusions. The Access Bank product clearly needs to re-invented as a digital first product to compete at the same level with Sterling Bank’s offering. Every organization needs to move with speed and resilience.

Courageous patience is what banks will need to succeed in these times. Courageous patience is the other side of the equation of speed and stability. The dimensions of courage include:

·      Courage to move with speed and flexibility.

·      Courage to think outside the box

·      Courage to rapidly innovate and create new products

·      Courage to partner outside expertise

·      Courage to personalize services for customers

·      Courage to choose a digital first approach

·      Courage to give customers a compos-able experience

Digital transformation is the new imperative for banking success.

Reach out to:

[email protected]

https://tidea.ng

+2348081136482

 References

*https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/05/01/the-hidden-worth-of-the-global-african-diaspora/

**https://www.accessbankplc.com/Personal-Banking/DIASPORA-BANKING.aspx

***https://switch-ng.com/