FBC Holdings’ digital path: The journey

FBC Holdings commenced operations as First Banking Corporation Limited in 1997. First Banking Corporation Limited was one of the first locally owned commercial Banks in Zimbabwe with only two branches in Harare and Zvishavane. The Bank embarked on a capital raising initiative through an initial public offering (IPO) and first listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 2001.

In 2004, First Banking Corporation Limited acquired Southern African Reinsurance Company (SARE), now FBC Reinsurance, to form FBC Holdings Limited. As a result of the acquisition, First Banking Corporation and SARE were delisted from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to allow for the rebranding of the merged entities and subsequent listing of FBC Holdings Limited.

In the same year, SARE was rebranded to FBC Reinsurance and First Banking Corporation was rebranded to FBC Bank Limited.

The rebranding exercise paved the way for the relisting of the two entities under a single brand, FBC Holdings Limited.

In 2005, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed entity, FBC Holdings, continued to grow in stature. In January 2005, FBC Holdings acquired the Zimbabwe Building Society (now FBC Building Society) and established a greenfield securities and stock-broking firm FBC Securities. FBC Securities is a a registered securities dealer (SECZIM) and a Member of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE). These additions allowed FBC Holdings to introduce mortgage financing and securities trading to complement the revenue generating capacity of the insurance businesses for FBC Holdings Limited. Eagle Insurance was rebranded to FBC Insurance in January 2017.

In 2010 FBC Bank launched the widely popular Mastercard Prepaid and debit cards, championing the return of Mastercard to the Zimbabwean market.

In 2011, FBC Holdings established Microplan Financial Services, the micro-finance subsidiary of the Group. The decision was driven by the need for financial inclusion and the desire to serve the under-banked market. The subsidiary was established with the mandate of developing the informal sector through providing micro- finance products that address the unique needs of the informal sector. FBC Bank was also one of the first three banks to go onto the Zipit platform which went on to be the most used interoperable mobile banking platform in the country.

In June 2013, FBC Holdings secured a staggering US$60 million line of credit facility from a syndicate of lenders that include INVESTEC, Standard Chartered and Commerz Bank. The facility was guaranteed by Afreximbank in a show of confidence in the creditworthiness and financial soundness of FBC Bank Limited.

In addition, in the same month of June 2013, Equator Capital, a private equity investor in the United States of America (USAs) snapped a sizeable seven percent stake in FBC Holdings, setting the stage for enhanced presence and visibility of the Group in the foreign capital markets.

In 2014, another US-based capital management company, Consilium, acquired six percent of the FBC Holdings shares, further reaffirming foreign investor interest in Group.

In December 2016, Norsad Finance, an international development finance and impact investor in Africa extended a US$10 million line of credit to FBC Bank Limited.

In 2017, the FBC Group made the critical decision to go a gear up on the digital transformation journey. The Group adopted a holistic approach to the entire digital transformation and innovation programme, with emphasis on culture, business model, organisational structure, operational processes, skills set and technology architecture.

In 2018, FBC engaged the services of a global consultancy firm to assist the group in developing a Digital Strategy and investment case that would help it to scale up from its e-commerce thrust to that of becoming a wholesome digital business. Part of that strategy entailed the the establishment of a ‘Digital Value Office” (DVO) to drive the transformation journey for the group.

February 2019-FBC Insurance launched a world-class, customer driven and low-cost Usage Based Insurance product christened ‘MyDrive’

August 2019 —

FBC Bank and Building Society modernised the core banking system and deployed a robust, state-of-the art version running on the global market.

September 2019 — The FBC Internet Banking Platform was upgraded. The group unveiled a new Oracle Banking Digital Experience (OBDX) platform, which was the latest version on the global market. The platform brought about omni-channel functionalities and exciting Do-it-Yourself (DIY) services for the client.

January 2020 — FBC Bank upgraded the Mobile Banking Application, whilst introducing a host of new features such as Biometric Authentication on supported devices, beneficiary maintenance and a Proof of Payment(POP)

January 2020 — FBC Insurance Company the launched “yakO!”(an innovative, gamechanging and fully digital third party insurance service) which changed the face of insurance in Zimbabwe.

April 2020 — FBC Insurance re-packaged yakO!, introducing new and exciting features such as Free Zinara licence disc delivery and Hospital Cash Plan as value-added services.

August 2020 — FBC Digital Account Opening Launched

In August 2020, the digital account opening service was launched. The product allows anyone to open an FBC Personal Account without ever having to physically visit a brick and mortar branch or using paper. In simple terms, with digital account opening, anyone can now digitally open any of the following FBC Account(s) remotely from wherever they are, as long as there is mobile network connectivity at any time of the day…24/7:

Mobile Wallet

Instant Card Account

Savings Account

Current Account

Foreign Currency Account(FCA)

August 2020 — Establishment

Virtual

FBC Virtual is the unit responsible for supof

FBC porting all clients that on-board addition to the following;

Operational and risk management Anti-Money Laundering(AML) Know-Your-Customer(KYC)

Business development — Cross and Upselling to the digital customer

Relationship Management

Product & Client support for clients utilizing our digital platforms.

Distribution of physical products to clients who opt for delivery (e.g cards delivery & PIN issuance through POS). Once a customer has been successfully on-boarded they will receive ongoing service support from the Customer Experience and 24 hour Contact Centre. virtually in

The FBC Virtual office is located at Ground Floor FBC Centre, 45 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare. Tel: +263-242-783 204/783 2067/707 057/797 759|772 706. Email: info@fbc. co.zw.