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“ That ’ s why we ’ ve been awarded as the most innovative Southern African bank for the African Banker Magazine for two years in a row ,” he adds . “ In essence , we always try to innovate to make sure that we are enablers in the market .”
One way in which the Mozambican bank is making waves in the sector is through its use of agent banking , whereby a banking agent – that is a retail or postal outlet – processes clients ’ transactions on behalf of the bank .
Launching the first banking agent in Mozambique around three years ago , Monjane Jr . believes this cogent strategy has been a roaring success .
“ Right now , we are pushing aggressively towards agent banking , whereby we partner with some commercial entities so that we can provide banking services all over the country ,” he explains .
“ We are going outside the urban areas to rural markets where people want to trade cash . We were the first to make that happen in Mozambique and now we are pushing it further through more agents across the country .
“ It ’ s an alternative way to grow in the market without having to put a traditional branch at every site . We believe it is the most viable solution for growth going forward and it is also in line with the country ’ s strategy to include more people into the financial system , which is a big issue in Mozambique , and in Africa as a whole .”
“ Like many other developing countries , the infrastructure in Mozambique is challenging ,” adds Monjane .
“ We don ’ t have the means to get to remote places . If you have a branch in a remote place , you have higher costs of transferring money to those places , higher costs of maintenance for the branch , and higher costs for the employees . That ’ s why with agent banking , you can reach this slice of the population in a much easier way .”
The financial landscape is changing rapidly and perhaps one of the most notable trends is
JULY 2018