Stanchart targets travellers with new airport branch
Pauline Dikuelo | Thursday December 8, 2016 16:18
Latest data from Statistics Botswana has shown that in the second quarter of 2016, the Gaborone-based airport constituted 50.9% of the 193,000 passengers who used the country’s airports which was a seven percent increase from the first three months of the year.
Speaking at the official opening of the branch this week, Stanchart head of retail banking Pedzani Tafa said it took them some years to finally open a branch at the airport.
“It took us more than two years to finally get a space and open o ur branch here. We have strategically identified this place to offer our clientele convenience especially those who will be leaving and coming into the country,” she said.
The airport branch will offer complete suite of banking services, which include personal banking, Internet banking, priority banking and a 24-hour automated teller machine (ATM) that offers South African rand withdrawals.
Officially opening the branch, Bank of Botswana (BoB) governor, Moses Pelaelo said the opening of the branch is a practical demonstration of commitment towards providing convenient access to banking services in support of economic development, employment creation, financial inclusion and more broadly, financial sector development in the country.
“The airport branch will be an important public infrastructure making banking more accessible and convenient to customers as they enter and leave Gaborone,” he said.
Currently, the bank employs approximately 800 Batswana and operates a network of 20 branches and sub-branches as well as 68 ATMs throughout the country.
Pelaelo said he has been told that as recent as 2015, the bank committed large sums of money “towards technology infrastructure over three years with an emphasis on mobile and digital platforms, with these innovative offerings being offered in the country as they are for the rest of the group.”
Pelaelo said the commitment saw the bank being awarded the ‘Best Global Consumer Digital Bank’ by Global Finance for the sixth successive year.
The BoB governor also noted that a major development challenge for many countries in the region is that the financial markets are fragmented and a large number of people do not have cost effective access to financial services.
Further the governor said besides opening branches, banks could also take advantage of opportunities provided by technological advancements to offer affordable on-line products and services.
He also said banks can make significant investments in infrastructure and staff to mobilise resources for further expansions to reach the unbanked. “There is no doubt that user-friendly and cost effective information and communication products and platforms play an important role in broadening safe and secure access to financial services, noting that financial literacy and education are paramount.”
Stanchart first opened its doors in Botswana to the public in 1960, opening branches in Lobatse, Mahalapye and Gaborone.