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In the face of the changing banking behaviour of customers, Sola Adeduntan, group managing director/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and Subsidiaries, says the new era of digital transformation in African banking space will be defined by Customer Experience and User Experience (CX/UX).
Speaking at a two-day conference on ‘Future Banking Tech West Africa,’ in Lagos, he said the bank customers of now (as well as future) were seeking real-time interactions and pinpoint accurate, personalised engagements.
“The banks that are winning (and will win in the future) are those that are able to deliver on both fronts for the customers through unique capabilities,” Adeduntan said.
Africa is projected to experience rapid growth in mobile penetration and smart phone adoption over the next six years… leading to an exciting era of digitisation.
The Africa’s population is projected to hit 1.6 billion by 2025 from 1.3 billion in 2018. Mobile subscriber penetration is expected to rise by 51 percent in 2025 from 45 percent.
Steven Ambore, head, digital financial services, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who spoke at the panel session on “Innovation in Regulation – Overcoming Gaps in Rural Banking Strategies,” said the CBN recognised the importance of digital financial services and had strategised to ensure fintech’s adoption by the banking industry.
He said for FinTechs to thrive, there is need need to focus on creating the enabling environment, adding that the CBN had instituted strategies toward that.
“There is a roadmap for that: introduction of a tradition licensing, trying to understand what FinTech does and its problems, holding round table with stakeholders and others,” Ambore said.
Benjamin Tordah-Klu, principal economics officer, ministry of finance, Ghana, said that a proper regulatory framework would be needed for fintech to thrive.
He said a lot is being done in the FinTech space, especially in the area of payment.
On his part, Damola Atanda, head, Financial Literacy Office, Consumer Protection Department, CBN, said, “we have technology, but the problem is what we do with the technology. We have to make its impact on the people”.
“How to get them to understand banking solutions is where financial literacy comes in, and they should be made to understand the enormous responsibilities that come with it,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Evans Woherem, founder/chairman, Digital Africa Global Consult Limited and Compumetrics Solutions, said financial inclusion was important because of the need to ensure that the generality of people, especially from ages 18, become users of financial institution.
“It is so unfortunate that these are financially excluded; there is the need to ensure that things are done to include them”, Woherem said, adding that FinTech is something that everyone needs to pay more attention to, as it is an exponential technology that will disrupt the banking system.
