Are Banks Ready For Digital Transformation?

Talks around digital transformation, digital, and digitization have ruled around different sectors ever since the pandemic. While, we won’t go further into the differences or similarities between the three terms, most people believe that digital transformation encompasses them all.

The finance sector needs to also join aboard the digital transformation journey, and this was among the themes of discussion at the dx⁵Africa Fintech Summit. The biggest question being, ‘Are banks ready for digital transformation?’

Dx⁵’s Chairman Harry Hare, terms digital transformation as a process rather than a destination. This applies to banks as well, they need to be on the digital transformation journey along with other sectors, and we have seen some of these banks taking up new models that help them get on with the digital transformation journey.

At the event, the Chief Data Officer at ABSA Kenya, Hartnell Ndungi, defined digital transformation as “organizational change through the use of digital technologies and business models to improve performance”. This means that for a company, digital transformation involves all hands on deck in incorporating technologies that will bring a positive change to your company.

Huawei is one of the companies that have been supplying technology solutions to banks to help transform digitally and offer better services to their customers, in turn. Huawei’s Senior Cloud Solution Manager, Catherine Maina, gave her perspective in how banks can start or continue in their digital transformation journey.

Catherine broke down digital transformation to four important things that a bank needs to look at. These are; Innovation, Infrastructure, Scalability, and Security.

“In the platforms that you are building and the applications that you have, it is important that you think of how you are going to scale out with them. To scale out, you need technology solutions that will help you achieve in target,” Catherine further added in her presentation at the Africa Fintech Summit.

One significant aspect of this transformation is the adoption of cloud computing in the banking sector. The move to the cloud has brought about numerous changes, offering banks enhanced flexibility, scalability, security, and cost-effectiveness.