Inefficiency pulls FNBB back, says bank’s chief
Customer centric desires are evading First National Bank Botswana (FNBB), despite the ballooning of the bank’s market share, as indicated by the bank’s rising customer figures.Steve Bogatsu, FNBB Chief Executive Officer last week revealed that inefficiency is almost crippling the bank’s operations.
“And these are things that worry us, we want to remain a customer-centric organisation,” said Bogatsu during the bank’s audited consolidated summarised financial results and dividend announcement. With over 500 thousand customers, FNBB has already initiated an inward focus plan, opposed to aggressively lure more customers, as a tool to increase customer satisfaction. “We are not satisfied with the service that we are giving to customers we have,” he added.
Bogatsu further said the bank is refining its operating model and centralizing some of the resources to create centers of excellence within the bank. In addition, FNBB’s inward focus is also propelled by the heightening competition within the financial service sector, propelled by fin techs.“The banking cake is not getting big but competition has increased. We need to find other revenue lines for our shareholders.
“We are doing groundwork to be able to open other revenue lines and insurance is one of them,” said Bogatsu.On the other hand, FNBB has been working hard to reverse negative impairments trend.“There has been a lot of focus on collection, we have revamped the processes in our collection,” said Bogatsu who reckons the bank has more work on inefficiencies. Digitalisation is also expected to drive the bank’s efficiency endevours, according to Bogatsu, highlighting plans to make every branch smaller in size with bigger areas for self service with WiFi.
As part of digital spurred efficiency, the bank has also introduced online forex, allowing customers to make foreign payments without submitting drafts at the bank. On year on year growth, the company saw its branch use grow by one percent, automated teller machine nine percent; mobile banking sixteen percent, online banking nine percent and point of sale transaction grow by twenty percent.
Meanwhile the bank’s forecast in the remaining months before year end is an anticipated growth in targeted financing for some sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing tourism, which will be supported by credit guarantees from development finance institutions.