It’s about providing solutions for customers
Partners with BotswanaPost
2023 to 2025 strategic actions revolve around optimising distribution model
Agent Banking product was launched in March 2023
Strategy is doing what we want it to do – CEO
Being here for 126 years is not a feat for Standard Chartered Botswana (Stanchart). It is a major deal that the bank has celebrated in a big way, emphasising that it belongs to Botswana. “We are here for the good and we are also here for the long run and now we are out there so that Batswana can see and reconnect,” the bank’s CEO Mpho Masupe said when presenting the bank’s results for the interim period ended 30 June 2023.
“We will ensure that our clients are happy wherever they are. We will bring them the best technology,” Masupe told journalists during his remarks. He stressed that Stanchart is not taking anything from anybody; the only thing that the bank said was, brick and mortar is not the future way of banking. “There is a different way of banking in the future and we are pioneering that.”
Masupe thinks Stanchart’s growth is counterintuitive to the extent that some would have wanted 45 branches out there to demonstrate its growth. But no, the bank said it wanted to grow differently and it is growing differently. The numbers are saying so. Eazy Pula, its agent Banking product was launched in March 2023.
As at 30 June 2023, Stanchart was in 44 sites in Botswana, ensuring that the brand reaches far places like Shakawe where it previously had no presence. In the past few years, the bank closed down some branches and customers were not very happy.
The bank in response to the outcry said while was closing branches, it would touch base with where its people are. The only thing that was missing in the suit of everything Stanchart was doing was the ability to put in cash and take cash out, which is what customers wanted. The bank did not have ATMS in far-flung areas but pledged to have an agent that customers would use to deposit and withdraw cash. Sitting at 44 sites by the end of June, management said the bank has surpassed 65 at the time of writing. Stanchart has partnered with BotswanaPost to be able to do this. BotswanaPost has 122 sites across Botswana.
Masupe said Stanchart wants to be in every single one of BotswanaPost’s units. “By the end of the year, we should have done 100 of the sites,” Masupe said. Basically, a Motswana sitting anywhere, there is a little bit of the bank, Masupe emphasised. Wherever the customer is, he said, they should be able to pick up their laptop or their phone, onboard themselves into Stanchart and become a customer. “Within 15 minutes, we have sent them accounts. Within 48 hours, they now have their card.” Then, he said, they can now do all the plus 70 services that the bank offers on gadgets.
“I don’t know what would define being financially inclusive much more than that,” Masupe said. This is quite important to the bank “Because as we closed branches, we promised and we are keeping to our promise that we will be able to reach every single Motswana out there and ensure the unbanked are banked.”
“If you were with us 3 years ago, you will note that it was the same strategy,” Masupe said. All that the bank has done, according to Masupe, is just changing “the names here and there because we have seen that it is actually working and we are able to deliver with it”. Masupe promised that Stanchart will continue to deliver with it. The bank stands proud on the basis of what it has achieved “counter-intuitively”. “If you are used to getting to a particular place in a certain way, when you say to people I will be able to get to that particular place in a different way, people may not believe you but we are getting there and we are excited.”
In other words, Masupe means that the strategy is paying off as the bank is “leading a strategy that’s different from the market”. Important, the gain was not without pain. While the bank reported an 8% decline in Non-Funded income (NFI) during the first half, management said the overall goal is to provide solutions for clients not to grow NFI.
But citing numbers that the bank has delivered over time, Masupe said Stanchart is at a point where it is beginning to grow exponentially. The bank’s half-year results were 3 times better, with Profit before tax up by 239% to P241 million. “Basically, it means we are getting there. Every single element of our strategy is beginning to pay off,” Masupe said. The bank has a strategy for 2023-2025 and this strategy is doing “what we want it to do”. “We are seeing it go where we want it to go,” Masupe said.
The Consumer, Private & Business Banking segment (CPBB) delivered revenue growth of 17% to P329 million. To improve and deliver on a client experience agenda, the bank said CPBB continues to digitise by migrating clients to self-service digital platforms and reporting a digital adoption rate of 79% in June 2023, from 70% in June 2022.
The Commercial, Corporate and Institutional Banking (CCIB) segment continues to report strong performance with total income growing 60% year-on-year and bottom-line profit before tax leaping 300% over the prior year. This, the bank said, demonstrates that the segment strategy to focus on areas with comparative advantage is yielding positive results. These niche areas are Financial Institutions, Public Sector and Global subsidiaries. Stanchart said CCIB remains the market leader with its online banking platform Staright2Bank which “we continue to invest in”. During the period, the processing of bank guarantees and invoice financing facilities were successfully migrated onto the platform, further providing efficiency and superior banking service to corporate clients.
The Bank’s 2023 to 2025 strategic actions revolve around optimising distribution models through partnerships that will also ensure increased brand visibility.
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