By: Sandra Nnaemeka
There is no argument that Banking has rapidly changed as a sector, and the biggest paradigm shift has always tilted on satisfying the customer’s expectations.
Stanbic IBTC recognised this fact which informed the decision to establish ‘Blue Labs’ Innovation Hub in Yaba, Lagos.
In less than a year of its establishment, the Lab, according to the Bank, has made significant impacts on its product ideation and designs as customers now co-create with the team of developers to arrive at satisfactory products, according to a report by TechEconomy.ng.
A member of the Business Process Improvement Unit at Stanbic IBTC, Wale Ojo, speaking during the bank’s session at Social Media Week in Lagos, Monday (#SMWSIBTCSession) on “Positioning the Digitization Agenda”, he said, “Virtual workspaces are the future and so we have an innovation lab located in Yaba, Lagos, where we co-create with customers. For instance, our banking app was built through a co-creation exercise.
“In a bid to be environmentally friendly, we have removed a certain amount of paper from our branches. We do this via our ‘Speak Your Transaction’ Initiative.
“In the last financial year, we were adjudged the best digital bank in Nigeria. We are consolidating on that in 2019.
Is Stanbic IBTC’s bot just a chatbot?
Ojo responds: “We have SAMI and Robo Advisory. SAMI is a virtual banker that helps with banking products and service. Robo, on the other hand, helps to identify the offerings you need to put your money in. Therefore, when you view our mobile #APPyness, you will be able to view all our business offerings.
“We have invested a lot in building solutions to help us satisfy our customers. We do this by building systems that give personalised experiences to our customers. the future is bright and as an organisation w reassure our customers that we will not lag behind.
“All our solutions are built to make life seamless for our customers, so watch this space as we have better solutions we are building at the bank end
Assisted by AI
He said that with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, the Bank was able to reduce man-hour spend on banking activities, especially with regards returned cheques and other issues associated with cheques confirmation.
Fintechs
He confirmed that the Bank will continue to work with a number of organisations, such as Fintechs, to develop solutions. “Even last year, we organised competitions and the aim was to work with these fintechs to ensure optimal customer satisfaction on our platforms. Honestly, IoT and AI, have helped us to be more compliant as an organisation.
More so, the deployment of these technologies, Ojo said, greatly assisted the bank to deliver on the obligations like credit cards management; fees analysis and anti-money laundry compliance.