Inside FNBB’s plan to stay ahead
The country’s leading microlender, Letshego Holdings, meanwhile, is accelerating its transformation into a major digital financial services retailer in Africa, building up a registry of five million customers to become one of the continent’s biggest players in that type of fintech.
As the field closes the gap on FNBB, the bank has an ace up its sleeve in the race to remain the preferred choice for customers.
While for many observers, FNBB’s recent brand launch appears to have been about reworking its famous Acacia tree logo and introducing new features to its market-leading app, the revamp involves a group-wide transformation designed to keep it ahead of the chasing pack by better responding to customers’ evolving needs.
The idea is to help customers stretch their thebes or maximise the value of their funds beyond simple transactional services, by moving from being product-led to advice-led.
“The three decades we have been in Botswana has given FNBB insights into customers’ lifestyles and their ambitions and we have delivered contextual solutions that have elevated FNBB as more than a bank but an economic partner,” the bank’s director of marketing and communications, Peo Porogo told Mmegi.
“So as the nation grapples with the residual effects of the pandemic and other global events, we are always pushing and challenging ourselves to continue growing our digital prowess, enhancing our advisory services and pro-actively offering the help that our customers for an enhanced customer experience.” While the uptake of banking services has been rising in the country in recent years, challenges such as financial literacy, lack of access to the Internet and sheer geographical remoteness have meant a section of the population remains either underserved or unserved.
The result has been that the increasing innovation, digitisation, and competition among banks and related financial services have been focused on the same pool of customers and within that, only certain income hierarchies have had the resources to access niche services such as advice.
According to Porogo, FNBB is extending its efforts to reach all corners of the market with both transactional services and the add-on solutions promised in the rebrand.
“Even in its digital banking offering, FNBB had already catered for those that have challenges to Internet access, starting with making the FNB App zero-rated which makes the FNB App accessible anytime, from anywhere even if the person does not have data,” she explained.
“We have also provisioned for our customers through our 649 CashPlus Agents countrywide as well as through our mobile bank, Bank on Wheels, which travels to areas where we don’t have physical structures to make banking convenient for our customers.”
She continued: “Our journey also redefines the traditional banking experience as we are now challenging ourselves to innovate and enhance the branch value propositions.
“We are able to focus more on offering advice to customers through the branch channels.
“We have opened up accessibility to banking services to under-represented groups through our alternative banking channels.
“We are positioning ourselves as a future-forward partner that not only has the digital prowess but an empathetic approach to empowering and facilitating sustainable growth for our customers and the market as a whole.”
Through its transformation, FNBB is banking on remaining the partner of choice for most Batswana, despite the increasing competition from the field.
Officials writing in the annual report make clear the bank’s approach to the trends in the market.
“As a market leader, FNBB has to continuously defend its market position and reputation.
“Competition for banking customers is expected to increase as new competitors enter and gain traction in the Botswana financial services sector. “The bank will continue protecting its market share by improving the service that we offer our customers.”
The winner, at the end of the day, will be the customer, a fact already seen by the Bank of Botswana whose recent Banking Supervision Report for 2021 found improved efficiencies, higher deposit rates for certain products, and other positive indicators due to the competition.
“Banks continue to streamline internal processes by adopting electronic processing to improve the convenience of access to transactional banking services, indicating that digitalisation of banking processes has become key to the provision of financial services and an enabler of financial inclusion,” the central bank stated.