Page 16 - Noble Magazine • July-August 2020-1

BANKING

Mitigating Strategies

Bringing Possibility to Life

During a Crisis

By Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: with regulators and governments It is increasingly evident that the bank
Retail and Business Banking, acknowledging that we need to navigate of the future will be known not for the
Chief Digital Officer and Customer the Covid-19 crisis together. products it sells, but for the creativity,
Experience at Absa Regional agility and openness to co-creating
Operations (ARO) These solutions have been carefully solutions with clients and partners.
thought through to assist those most Everything we do speaks to our ability
in distress during the initial wave of to find solutions to our customers’
hen a crisis of the the Covid-19 economic slowdown. needs – this is even more relevant at a
magnitude of Covid-19 Although we live in an era of social time when our very concept of ‘normal’
strikes, it is our role as distancing, geographically segregated is being challenged and revised
Wa responsible lender to interaction, and government- constantly.
put forward various immediate and enforced lockdowns, our technology
medium-term solutions to proactively and the array of digital products we Support for SMEs
combat the downturn it brings. As an offer have enabled us to continue to
African business, we have sought to serve all our customers efficiently One of the things we are very conscious
position ourselves so that we can offer and effectively. of is that small and medium enterprises
not just tangible relief in this time of (SMEs) are vital to economic growth
distress and global upheaval, but also Leading digitally across Africa, and we need to support
true value in an ever-changing world. and nurture the entrepreneurial energy
It is inevitable that a post-Covid-19 and innovation in that sphere. We
For any indebted individual or world will see us emerge into a further recognise that the informal
business, servicing debt during such more digitally-driven space. Absa economy needs to be as much
difficult times is a source of angst. Absa is actively driving the roll-out of protected as the formal economy,
reacted swiftly to the pandemic by digital infrastructure and offering our because this makes up a large portion
designing, offering and implementing customers more innovative solutions. of employment in Africa.
smart solutions and offering significant Customers can bank in a variety of
financial respite during these times. ways: internet banking, apps, e- and Therefore, we ensure that our SMEs
mobile commerce, and contactless and our business banking customers
Relief measures have included payment capabilities. benefit from our relief programmes
repayment breaks, moratoriums on during these turbulent times as much
capital repayments and the waiver of One of the key pillars of our growth as our individual customers. There is
fees on interbank transfers through is to build a scalable, digitally-led no doubt that when the time comes to
internet banking and bank-to-wallet business. When we launched the rebuild our economies, SMEs will play
transactions, among others. new Absa brand across Africa, we a leading role in spurring such efforts.
spoke about “bringing possibilities
A payment holiday – which also defers to life”, and we are stretching digital According to the World Bank, Small
the tenor of the repayment – is just boundaries to meet and, indeed, and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
one option available and is primarily exceed the needs of our clients in a play a major role in most economies,
designed to offer immediate relief rapidly evolving landscape. particularly in developing countries
and ensure a continued cashflow where SMEs account for the majority
for a household or business facing Our digital transformation towards of businesses worldwide and are
financial hardship, while at the same a low-touch, low-contact future is important contributors to job creation
time protecting credit worthiness. accelerating at a fast pace. In driving and global economic development.
The option to exercise a payment this, we will make banking and ways of SMEs represent about 90% of
holiday is a conversation between the payment cheaper for all our customers. businesses and more than 50% of
customer and the lender based on the We are already seeing a massive surge employment worldwide, while formal
profile and individual circumstances in digital use and pick-up by customers SMEs contribute up to 40% of national
of the client. in all our regions, which reinforces income (GDP) in emerging economies.
our conviction that we are on the right These numbers are significantly higher
All of this has been done in consultation track.

16 Noble Magazine // July - August 2020