Peter Alkema, FNB CIO Business
The fintech revolution is here and has presented a number of challenges and opportunities for businesses worldwide. The financial services sector is under increasing pressure to become more agile, relevant to ever changing customer needs and responsive to a growing number of disruptors.
Fintech is presently in a strong hype cycle and levels the playing fields, especially in banking were non-traditional players like Telco and Tech are actively acquiring banking licenses. Creating and investing in new business models, product lines and improved processes can help businesses keep up with global trends and innovation.
FNB Business cultivates a ecosystem with a range of value-adding services that supports entrepreneurs to develop themselves, remove angst and tap into networks and funding opportunities. As a trusted partner in a small business’s lifecycle, banks have a unique opportunity to develop the environment within which these job creators thrive and contribute to the economy.
Accelerating business innovation at FNB is part of the overall innovation strategy; we are focused on creating meaningful innovative products and services for all our customers. This can be seen through the funding and support of a number of programmes, like Codefest, WeThinkCode, Alpha Code, Foundery and the annual devOps IT conference.
The upliftment of IT skills in Africa has gained significant momentum with companies investing in time and people to develop a tech-savvy generation of business leaders. Our co-founding sponsorship of WeThinkCode, the first peer to peer tertiary IT education academy in Africa shows our commitment and dedication to ensuring we mentor and develop students who have an affinity for IT but lack the financial resources to pay for traditional tertiary education.
We are passionate about grounding and helping these students for a successful working life. Two winners of the 3rd bootcamp hackathon were hosted in Cape Town where they toured some of the top start-up IT firms and incubators.
A new way of thinking is needed to demystify banking within the financial services industry. Fintech helps grow, educate and enrich the market. We find that businesses are incorporating innovation in their business models which encourages us to think and act differently. This radical disruption is necessary for cross industry collaboration and is crucial for future value generation.
Fintech is dominating markets with customer centric business models which focus on trust, collaboration and innovation. Industries have been disrupted by this phenomenon and banking has not been the exception. Technology can improve the customer experience and create rich, actionable insight that will add value to customers and operations. This integration and collaboration of fintech ensures that we remain authentic and continuously innovating.
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