Wealth Tech Awards 2022: African and Middle Eastern winners
Best private bank for use of technology, Africa
Investec
Leading South African bank Investec aims to remain client-centric in its digital transformation process, allowing its customers to engage with wealth management and corporate banking facilities through any channel of their choice.
“The key objective is to help them save time,” says Investec’s global head of digital and technology, Lyndon Subroyen, dismissing any notion that digitalisation is purely aimed at boosting profits and cutting adviser numbers. “Our focus has never been about cost reduction,” he maintains.
The clients’ “journey” and “experience” in using the technology goes hand-in-hand with the way their portfolios are invested, he believes. The latest high-tech innovations, such as the Investec Next platform, are designed to help the bank become closer to clients, through offering a “more human” digital experience, he says. “We are always extremely focused on investment outcomes at any point of the market cycle, and we follow a thorough robust investment process.”
At the start of a relationship with a new client, Investec expects its bankers to act as “financial physicians” in their bid to understand client needs, risk appetite and requirements. They are then responsible for helping invest client funds in an appropriate mix of asset classes.
One of the current key concerns of the bank’s investment and relationship management teams is that of market volatility and its influence on investor behaviours. Regular communication is needed, insists Mr Subroyen, to ensure portfolios are correctly positioned to achieve both long- and short-term goals. “Volatility is something that keeps people up at nights,” he says. “But there is no need to panic in volatile times.”
The tech team is increasingly operating on a global basis, integrating functions to serve all geographies, so that the services available in South Africa, are simultaneously rolled out in the UK, although certain innovations are reserved for specific markets. “Regional nuances, client needs and regulatory requirements often result in us being able to activate certain features for some client groups in a geography, or at times being able to create bespoke experiences and products for a particular region,” he says. YB
Best private bank for client acquisition, Middle East
Mashreq Bank
Mashreq Bank says its heritage, coupled with a culture of digital innovation, has shaped the “cutting-edge solutions” offered to new and existing customers today. Investment into Mashreq’s digital platforms has created a digital pathway for acquiring new clients, covering mandatory know your customer and anti-money laundering checks, as well as risk-profiling and suitability assessments. As a result, new clients can establish a wealth relationship in “a few minutes”.
The execution of a digital transformation plan has secured Mashreq Bank a “digital agility advantage”, meaning it can quickly adopt market and operational changes to remain competitive. Recent additions include both front-end and back-end solutions, such as a new wealth management platform and a safe and flexible cloud infrastructure to host the bank’s digital applications.
In addition, Mashreq Bank has enabled access real-time data in order to conduct enhanced analytics across the business. These efforts, claims Mashreq, are enabling year-on-year customer growth and assets under management both increasing by double digits in 2021.
“At Mashreq Private Bank, we have embarked on a ‘digital agile’ journey that allows us to proactively embrace innovative and state of the art digital technologies through social, data, cloud, and mobile. This has enabled us to consistently evolve and enhance our value proposition through an iterative process that allows us to learn and launch new concepts,” says Vipul Kapur, head of private banking at Mashreq Bank. JK
Best private bank for digital customer service, Africa
Nedbank
Many digital initiatives have enhanced customer satisfaction at Nedbank over the past year. Clients have appreciated digital product opening and servicing, especially for investments, accounts and overdrafts. Being able to book an appointment with their bankers, receiving and making forex payments, as well as managing rewards points, have also been well received, states Tracy Afonso, executive customer offerings, private clients and small business services at the bank.
To cater to customers, the South African bank offers traditional advisory, robo-advice, client-self-service through digital and ‘light advisory support’ through its contact centre.
Technology helps clients meet investment goals and secure greater returns, as it facilitates transactions, “while digital advisory and investment nudges better equip clients to make the right decisions at the right times,” believes Ms Afonso.
Looking to the advice model of the future, “data will no doubt enrich and streamline interactions, but we are not convinced it will replace the human component,” says Ms Afonso, explaining the bank’s mantra is ‘digital when you want it, human when you need it’.
“The challenge is making sense of the vast amount of data available in the context of each individual and translating it into relevant insights, in the moment, and serving it to clients according to personal preferences.” Some clients love to be nudged and fed insights, others do not want to be interfered with, she explains.
The bank is exploring the possibility of offering non-traditional investments such as crypto or fractional shareholding through its platforms, hoping to bring clients a solution “as soon as regulatory hurdles are cleared”. ET
