Stanbic improves customer service system

KEIKANTSE LESEMELA
Correspondent | Thursday October 11, 2012 00:00

 

Addressing the media yesterday, Stanbic chief executive, Leina Gabaraane, said the system will empower Stanbic Bank to derive optimal value from customer data in order to meet a range of operational business and strategic objectives. He said that due to sustained growth and profitability in banking, increased competition and pressure on pricing. an increasingly complex and demanding customer base, Standard Bank Group South Africa selected Botswana to be one of the first countries in Africa  for infrastructure  investment.

Gabaraane said the system will enable the bank to add more value to its customers: 'Our customer is always at the fore of our objectives, and this new system will bring them a more streamlined and more enjoyable banking experience,' said Gabaraane.

Gabaraane said the system guarantees consistency across reporting and plays a pivotal role in transforming key institutional data into measurable performance indicators.'The Finacle system is very advanced and has a lot of functionalities and benefits which will largely see us improving our services to our customers, particularly exciting is the system flexibility that will enable us to swiftly change and develop products quickly whenever they are required,' said Gabaraane.

He noted that during the transition, which will take about four months, customers might encounter some problems when banking:'Our priority remains to service the needs of our customers and to help them through any challenges they might experience. And as such we have an established Customer Care centre to assist during the change over period,' he said.

Joel Stead, head of Stanbic portions said the system will guarantee consistency across reporting and plays a pivotal role in transforming key institutional data into measurable performance indicators:'The new system will enable the bank to deliver 360 degree customer relationship management solution, differentiate our products and services and identify the gaps in our products, quickly replicate and make amendments to them according to our customer needs,' he said. Stead explained that currently customers have been complaining about problems they are encountering when transacting.

The transition is expected to take up to 15 months, while the new core banking system is due to be launched in February next year.The system is one of the most comprehensive and flexible universal banking solutions and has been launched in other Standard Bank Group countries such as Namibia, Nigeria and Uganda, so Botswana will be the fourth country in Africa to use this system. Stanbic Bank Botswana will use these countries key learnings to migrate into the new system.

Meanwhile local banks have been challenged to improve their responsiveness to public complaints and lower their transactional costs. Recently, the minister of finance and development planning, Vincent Seretse said there is a lot of public outcry over the high cost of banking services and responsiveness of banks to public complaints. He said the quality of banking in the country is not commensurate with transaction costs at times.