DISRUPTION 2016: Equity Group unveils new customer-led banking

As Equity Group scales new heights in its digitization journey, it has now disrupted the way banking should be done in East Africa. The bank has unveiled EazzyBanking, a range of digital products, which are channel agonistic, driven by a versatile technology and capability platform thereby setting the scene for innovative banking that supports convenient lifestyle.

“Customers’ banking trends have declared the death of the bank branch as transaction channel, as they increasingly embrace self-service technology platforms that give them freedom, choice and control.”  Said Equity Bank’s CEO Dr. James Mwangi while launching the suite of digital products dubbed Eazzy Banking suite of digital products. The bank is promising to give an easy, comprehensive and secure experience while supporting a convenient lifestyle for Kenyans transacting both in the country and abroad.

A statement for the bank following the launch on Tuesday October 11, 2016 said Equity is embracing a customer led revolution where customers have demonstrated affinity for digital banking. More than 80% of all loans in the bank are now being accessed through  the mobile phone showing an increasing desire for self service banking

This move is Equity Bank’s, “responds to customers’ evolving and sophisticated lifestyle; Customers value more free time and prefers to spend it with family and doing what they love. They prefer self-service digital banking. They also have a higher preference for convenience in payment platforms and access to loans,” the statement said.

Dr. Mwangi said, “Further, customers have demonstrated the extinction of cash preferring to transact with digital money which is safer for transactions and more hygienic than bank notes. In response to these trends that we have been observing from our customers, we have reinvented ourselves into a digital bank to respond to their needs, in line with our promise as their listening caring partner.”

One of the changes that will be pronounced as a result of this disruption is that Equity Bank’s branches will transition to centers of excellence focusing on high value transactions banking for SME and corporate banking and yet the Bank promises to maintain its’ historical and revolutionary culture of disrupting the banking industry through bold and innovative solutions.

These developments come as the Bank enlists high level partnerships and world leading experts in banking technology, security, big data aggregation and analytics ensuring a high availability, agile and secure operating environment.

Among the products unveiled are a banking app known as Eazzy App, an interoperable payment platform, EazzyPay;  a mobile based loan product, EazzyLoan; a solution to help Chamas, investment clubs and groups manage their joint finances and investments, EazzyChama ;a retail internet portal where customers can manage their bank accounts, EazzyNet – which also enables PayPal account holders to withdraw their funds to their Equity Bank accounts within three business days. Also unveiled is a cash and liquidity management solution for SMEs known as Eazzy Biz, and banking capabilities packaged as APIs exposed through Eazzy APIs platform.

During the launch, it was revealed that with the current development, Equity enters the third phase of its growth and evolution characterized by technology and digitization, making banking easy. First phase of ten years from 2004, the bank reached out to unbanked populations and gave them a safe and secure place to keep their money, away from the mattress. Second phase of ten years, the bank expanded to rural areas deepening financial inclusion and debunking the myth that rural areas were not bankable.

 “We have a banking solution for everyone, in line with our inclusive agenda which we have carried as part of our commitment throughout our history, said Dr. Mwangi and added; “The bank’s strategy is to be the region’s leading digital bank delivering a remarkable client experience in key digital touch points. “We have all witnessed how rapid adoption of mobile and other digital channels have transformed how people bank. We are thus delighted to unveil this platform that will drive growth in our business via new innovations and increased customer loyalty.” he said.

Dr. Mwangi said that the digital journey that the Equity Bank started a year ago is already showing impressive results with the number of the bank’s active digital customers rising steadily. In the period ending September 2016, growth in Equitel mobile loan disbursements accounted for 84% of all loan disbursements compared to 16% branch loan disbursements.

The success of this strategy has been underscored by forging strategic partnerships with global leading experts in data security, big data capture and analytics ensuring an operating environment that is highly available, secure, scalable and interoperable.  Some of the partners include Oracle who have provided the software and hardware technology (engineered platform and cloud service), Apigee who have provided the API platform to support the self-service developers’ portal for innovations, Airtel who support the Equitel MVNO capability, OpenWay who have provided the card management platform and Infosys who have provided the core banking platform. Experian MicroAnalytics have provided the bank with a robust credit scoring platform that aggregates all our data sources to analyze the customers

The other partners mentioned during the launch include Paladion for security operations monitoring, CISCO for Network infrastructure, and IBM for core banking infrastructure.

Equity Bank has obtained the prestigious global Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 3.1 (PCI DSS 3.1) certification effective 28^th August 2016, becoming the first Kenyan bank and one of the first banks in East Africa to do so. The certification affirms Equity’s adherence to international security standards related to the protection of customer information. In addition,

Equity Bank has recently partnered with a Global Security Operation Centre (GSOC) in line with the Bank’s strategic vision of providing secure Banking services to our customers. The GSOC is the central nerve center that offers real-time internal and external threats detection and cyber defense 247. The GSOC is equipped with specialized technology, processes and expertise to monitor, assess and proactively defend the Bank from any potential threats both internally and externally.

“The rapid growth of the financial technology industry in Kenya is a testament to the role advancing technology is playing in the evolution of financial services on the continent. Technology is fueling innovation and growth in the financial services sector, creating new opportunities and disrupting the way business has traditionally been conducted.” he concluded.