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FINAL WORD
African Banking:
Transform,
innovate and
succeed
The banking industry in Africa is experiencing
rapid innovation at the hands of new-age non-
banking entrants as well as some incumbent
banks. But what causes these players, especially
the incumbent banks among them, to innovate
successfully where so many others have failed?
James Buckley, from Infosys Finacle, looks
into this in more detail.
I
nnovation leadership in banking belies the hype and investment
associated with it. The 2019 Innovation in Retail Banking report
presented by Efma and Infosys, which surveyed more than 300
banking leaders globally, states that only 14% of banks think they
are innovation pioneers and 35% believe they are fast followers.
It is no coincidence that the respondents who rate themselves
as leaders also lead Digital Transformation in their markets. The
research finds that banks that are able to innovate effectively are
better at leveraging data and technology and also are better at
Digital Transformation.
Not surprisingly, their organisations are very customer-centric, with a
clear idea of customer goals and how to achieve them. Leaders were
also found to be measuring their Digital Transformation progress
effectively while most mainstream players and laggards reported a
lack of definite KPIs to measure the success of their transformation
efforts. A huge factor in their success is that the banks have also
transformed their organisation and culture to suit the requirements
of the digital age.
These expectations are largely borne out in a scan of Africa’s most
innovative banks, which have clearly taken the lead in transforming
their systems and technologies, overtaking not only domestic banks
but also those in other countries.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
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