How to foster innovative banking, by Heritage, CIBN, others

A combination of effective partnerships and robust engagements among banking professionals and financial technology combination, will surely lead to a virile and sustainable industry that is capable of standing the test of various shocks.

For Heritage Bank Plc, its commitment to the growth and progress of the banking profession, was behind the ongoing partnership with the Lagos Branch of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN), as it hosts the 2018 Lagos Bankers and Stakeholders’ Nite.

The General Manager and Chief Compliance Officer of Heritage Bank, Wumi Adeniyi, said the bank decided to support the forum because the event will foster a robust engagement among professionals in the sector as well as customers of banks.

“We take very significant recognition of the fact that we are a bank which must interface with our colleagues and customers at a time like this. It is a significant event in the calendar of the banking community in Nigeria and Heritage Bank, being a member of that community, must participate in it and we have supported the initiative over the years.”

The Guest Speaker and founder/Executive Vice Chairman of CWG Plc, Austin Okere, in his paper titled: “Big data, Fintech and the future of banking,” noted that the evolving technology, which goes beyond financial application is expected to disrupt global supply chain by boosting transaction schemes across borders and improving the transparency of the process.

He said the technology uses the blockchain technology, which has created the backbone of a new type of internet which was originally devised for the digital currency, remarking that it is this technology that Fintechs are leveraging to disrupt traditional banks.

Okere noted that the most disruptive application of the blockchain technology would be in the financial sector as consistent complaints about banks have reached a crescendo in recent times.

According to him, after centuries of receiving deposits and making loans, two customer groups have emerged, and both are calling for a change. The first group comprises of under-banked adults while the second comprises of members of the elite who believe that the relationship is absolutely skewed in favour of the banks.

He said the biggest threat to banks is the perception that they can always make profits even in times of economic downturn when the real sector of the economy suffered the most.

Okere contended that this has led many banks to believe that they are invincible, that is now characterised by loss of touch with customers.

CWG chief said the way forward for the banking industry is to collaborate with Fintech companies to deliver financial services because Fintechs have taken over financial services up to a third percentage of the population in volume and in value incountries like Kenya and China.

The Chairman of the occasion and a director at United Bank for Africa (UBA), observed that a strong banking system is imperative to the economic growth of any country.