By Rarzack Olaegbe
This is a matter of trust. You could relate. She has an account with Santander UK. She lives in Nigeria. She overspent during a holiday in Ghana. Then she forgot about the transaction. Three weeks later, she got an email from Santander. Santander had thought some fraudulent activities happened on her account. Therefore, Santander flagged the card.
Hot-listed it. Returned the fund. Issued a new card. And delivered the card to her UK home. In the email, Santander asked if she could visit the bank whenever she is available to confirm the personal identification number. If you were the customer, what would you do?
On the one hand
It is not deliberate that banks are in the eye of the storm. Banks keep your funds. Meanwhile, your budget is shrinking. Inflation is biting. You are more prudent. You have prioritised your needs. Because spending is advancing. Your earning is retreating. As a customer, you demand safer, faster, and cost-efficient services. You are sophisticated. Your desire is a sophisticated service provider. Then, competition is fiercer. Daily.
Due to this, inspiring customer service delivery is thinning. The customers are aching. They are demanding more from the service providers. Fintechs. Banks. All sectors. Therefore, anyone who empathises with the customers gets an accolade. Is it the bank or Fintech?
That is the reason the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) asked traditional financial institutions to embrace innovation. It told the banks to adapt to a changing environment so that they can remain relevant and compete favourably with Fintechs.
President Rasheed Bolarinwa of ACAMB spoke at the association’s second national stakeholder conference 2023 in Lagos and said the Fintech firms are challenging the banks with the way they have transformed the finance landscape with technology. To keep up and succeed in the current ecosystem, banks need to deploy the latest innovations.
Bolarinwa said the rate at which Fintechs and neo-banks have transformed the finance industry is a wake-up call for the banks. “Part of the imperative of these dynamic times is the demand on us in the industry to embrace innovation, adaptation, and agility if we must remain relevant in today’s marketplace.’’
The key indicators of these dynamic times, he maintained, are macroeconomic headwinds that redefine the financial market and other markets across the board. Rising inflationary trends, purchasing power parity, and supply shocks occasioned by foreign exchange scarcity had a significant impact on production and the ability of people to save money and invest.
Well, he knows the industry like the naira. That is why he pointed at digitalisation as a trend disrupting the ecosystem. Especially the financial services sector. In addition, consumer behaviour has altered the mode of buying and selling. He conceded. This behaviour has shifted from brick-and-mortar to online purchases. Overall, it has fostered the increasing adoption of digital payment systems.
On the other hand
Themed Marketing Financial Services in Dynamic Times, the conference accommodated other eggheads like the Lead Partner, CMC Connect LLP, Mr Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya. He was not there to look dapper. No. He unfurled the PricewaterhouseCoopers study, which reveals that only 39 per cent of Nigerians trust their banks in contrast to the global average of 56 per cent. “This lack of trust impedes financial inclusion and digital service adaptation,” he pointed out and asked the banks to know the customers and the market. Because the era of mass marketing was gone, banks need to “rebuild customer trust by finding new ways to meet their needs,” he lectured.
When banks promote products, he observed, it looks easy. “But when I get to the banking hall it becomes difficult.” In reminiscence, he recalled the pre-past when banks marketed financial products with pretty girls who would drive spanking cars. “And sometimes, the higher their skirt line, the better. But you cannot do that anymore,” he warned.
In the short term
You do not understand the bank and Fintech.
Be my teacher, please.
Fintech does not build technology. It uses technology to push payment. A bank pushes payment and more. Fintech takes a portion of what the bank does and does it well.
Do you mean a bank does not need to build technology?
Banks should collaborate with Fintech.
Tell me why.
The funds still end up in the bank. It is a trust matter!
