Issue 4 2021

Feb21602 The New Age of Banking A worldwide banking network that has made itself a cornerstone of its sector, SC Bank is leading the charge away from brick and mortar banking and towards a totally remote, paperless future. SC Bank Kenya is a banking service providing excellent and innovative services to its users. It has developed a myriad of strategies to allow it to do this, all with the same goal in mind; to drive commerce and prosperity within a diverse and dynamic sector. It has thusly been working hard to upskill itself, its mindset, and its capabilities, keeping itself adaptive and flexible to take it beyond the usual limits of banking. In short, SC Bank is transformative and disruptive. It has been installing ‘digital by design’ processes into its operational model, across all its business segments and banking platforms, incorporating the newest technologies, and getting rid of bloated old processes in order to streamline itself. With a solid networking plan functioning in the background, it is also unlocking the power of a digital footprint, making a name for itself by the delivery of top of the line insights and solutions. It has also been solidifying its revenue streams – by reinforcing strong credentials amongst its affluent market segment, it is drawing more clients from this segment, and now provides personalised expert wealth management advice. It has also upscaled its mass retail market presence by way of proving its digital capabilities, highly dependable remodelled risk framework, and diligent stress testing. It has thus shown that it can sustainably continue to scale up its growth without damaging its infrastructure, and its partners and clients see this. With this ‘show don’t tell method’ that has facilitated its creation of a superior end-to-end digital experience, SC Bank works alongside its partners to continually better this. SC Bank also prizes sustainability in terms of its corporate environmental responsibility. It has developed net-zero climate goals that guide its business decisions, dedicated to creating profit in a way that does not harm the world it seeks to serve. SC Bank opened its digital banking services in 2019 to take a head- on approach to prioritizing paperless, remote services. As well as the environmental benefits of an online paperless service, this meant that it was already well positioned to make a sophisticated and seamless transition to fully digital banking upon the advent of the Covid-19 outbreak. When it comes to retail banking as an industry, research suggests that 89% of transactions are conducted out of branch, and 83% of clients are using its Straight2Bank Platform as part of this move away from in person services. For its innovations, SC Bank was accredited as the ‘best tier 1 bank for digital experience’ and the ‘best bank overall’ in a KBA customer satisfaction survey; its second consecutive year in the lead. It was also awarded many more accolades in the year of 2020 all thanks to its digital banking solutions. SC Bank has a global network and a deeply ingrained history in the Africa and Middle East region, with over 160 years of heritage behind it. It is present in 25 of the markets in this region, with UAE, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Kenya being the largest, and having the largest footprint in the Sub-Saharan African region of any other international banking group. The relationships developed over the course of this storied history have made it an integral part of the economic landscape for these markets, allowing it to support its clients with understanding and empathy. It has a wealth of knowledge in the company regarding social, cultural, and geopolitical factors, allowing it to truly tailor itself to its clientele. In a similar vein, it is this that allows SC Bank to have an unparalleled understanding of the area’s regulatory standards and market behaviours. With banking as an industry undergoing a period of intensive transition; as technological innovations becoming more and more integral to everyday function, banks have had to find ways to engage with the pivot. SC Bank was already well positioned to do this, and so is dedicated to keeping abreast of prevailing trends and developments. In this way, it keeps itself competitive and frees itself from conventional banking. It is also conscious of the changing market in that banks are no longer just competing against each other anymore, but against different remote money management services. SC Bank therefore funnelled investment into creating a completely end-to-end digital delivery model that is thoroughly based on client requirements. With over 70 embedded client services available through its mobile app, its growth has been exponential and low cost, as it can now reach more people through the same processes. This has shown itself as significantly superior to brick-and-mortar services. Furthermore, its clients directly benefit from the speed, efficiency, and ease of online banking, and after seeing how popular it was amongst its markets, it has updated its goals to include the increase of mobile banking’s use in Pakistan, Bahrain, and Jordan. Its innovations have also included the digitisation of its wealth management proposition, with digital sales growing by 60% as a result. Thus, it updated and developed this service to include motor, home, travel, and funeral cover; providing its clients with a broader and more in depth service, all completely remotely. It has managed the increase of online traffic with elegance and sophistication, engaging in continuous frontline training for staff that ensures all operations can run smoothly, and deepening client engagements by consistent portfolio review and acknowledging client feedback. Furthermore, SC Bank has made itself indispensable as a trusted advisor to corporate treasurers, as SC Bank can provide guidance in digitising their own industry and business practices. As SC Bank’s advice still comes from the perspective of a money management mindset, its propositions always put the revenue stream first, something these clients appreciate. In tandem with its myriad services and solutions, it has also been working hard to develop an effective strategy for retaining its industry relevance. SC Bank will therefore be focusing on the adoption of digital channels for cash management, trade finance, and securities services to replace in-branch transactions. Additionally, after the extreme growth of online marketplace sales in Kenya, with e-commerce listed as a front running industry at KES 70-120 Billion in short term worth, SC Bank wishes to get a foot in the door in this sector. It will therefore be prioritising its reliable online collections value proposition, something that will become invaluable for this new marketplace, especially regarding new payment methods and cross border transactions. Looking towards a future for both itself and the world, the climate crisis has only exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic for several regions. This is something that SC Bank wishes to address. It is a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goals coalition, and every day it works hard to become more accountable as a company, treating itself with the strictest oversight to ensure that it is never doing more harm than good. To this end, during 2020, it partnered with East Africa’s leading water provider to launch Kenya’s first green-supporting finance initiative. Thus, it is deeply grateful to its partners and supporters for helping it to achieve this goal. As a living, breathing element of the global financial infrastructure, SC Bank stand out as a company wishing to make real change. Because of this, it is clear to see that with its myriad projects and ambitions, SC Bank is one to watch. Company: SC Bank Kenya Limited Contact: David Lawrence Website: https://www.sc.com/en/contact-us/ ...SC Bank’s advice still comes from the perspective of a money management mindset, its propositions always put the revenue stream first, something these clients appreciate.