Page 45 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES February 2020

Gazi Yar
Mohammed
EVP, Head of MFS &
Agent Banking, ONE Bank
to win the hearts of millennial and bring them
under the banking ecosystem. Sometimes, we
assume internet banking as digital banking;
digital banking is one-stop banking that you
can do from a single mobile app – from savings
account opening to loan application in minutes
without visiting branches. Banks should shift
OK Wallet, ONE Bank's digital Wallet has been very well the paradigm to create comprehensive
received by the customers. How has ONE Bank Limited solutions that demonstrably fix practical
(OBL) successfully differentiated its service from numerous problems instead of product-centric pushes.
competitors currently present in the market? Coming to your next question, lending is
thriving in different markets, and the digital
Well, Cash-in and cash-out transactions are dominant in MFS loan is scalable and unbanked or underbanked
market. To stand out, we have focused on digital payment, covering people can avail digital loan through mobile
online payment and offline payment. We have onboarded 6000 phone. We are working on this to offer
merchants, composed of chain retail stores, retailers, restaurants, disruptive value pillars for consumers and
rideshare startups, home appliance companies, electronics shops and quick access to finance. We have around 50
e-commerce marketplaces for facilitating the payment by OK Wallet. million millennial who can be game-changers.
To drive our payment strategic plans, we are offering a couple of Banks need to come up with digital banks and
utility payment services like DESCO, DPDC, WASA, NESCO, NID Fee, digital lending. Only 1 million people use
Credit Card payment. OK wallet users can add money from agent credit cards; this number is minimal compared
points, ONE Bank branches and VISA and Master Cards. Users can to our working force size. Banks need to target
withdraw cash from OBL ATMs, Branches and agent points. We millennial and rising middles class and offer
emphasized the strategic alliance and teamed up with different different DFS focused services to reduce the
marketplaces and rising startups named Pataho, Zantrik, Sheba cost and ensure the scalable business model.
where users of OK Wallet and these startups can take a diverse set of While our 3rd and 4th generation banks have
services paying by OK Wallet. an average customer base of 1 to 1.5 million,
We are also coming up hotels booking, movie tickets and bus ticket lot of digital banks have 3 to 4 million
booking services through the OK Wallet. We are also going to launch customers whom they onboarded in just 4 to 5
a digital savings scheme for OK wallet users soon that will offer to years. Without digital bank and DFS
compete for digital customer experience and easy savings options. proposition, it will be challenging to increase
in the customer base over the next decade.
Going forward into the new decade, how crucial is it for
banks to adopt Digital Banking and Digital Financial Do the clients (customers) have a role to
Service (DFS) to keep up with the rest of the world? Can play in keeping their transactions and
DFS solve access to finance problems as small and bank details safe?
unbanked borrowers don't get loans from banks?
Yes, customers have an essential role in
Banking and DFS will keep thriving, and Fintech is riding on banks. keeping personal information and banking
Banks need to team up with fintech to offer competitive products. A details safe. One Time Password (OTP) and PIN
lot of renowned contemporary banks launched parallel digital banks are the most critical data that must be handled
with extreme caution. If customers share their
OTP or PIN of Wallet and card number with
39
www.ibtbd.net
CVV with anyone, it may jeopardize
their financial accounts.
Agent Banking has proven to
be a monetary masterstroke
which has facilitated millions
of Bangladeshis with formal
banking services. But agent
banking is focusing on deposits
only and customers are not
getting loans from agent
banking? What is ONE Bank's
plan for agent banking?
Financial inclusion implies that
irrespective of income level, all
individuals, households and
businesses must have access to
financial services and products that
address their needs. Agent banking
plays a crucial role in financial
inclusion.
Agent banking is growing at a rapid
pace. The current customer base in
the market reached 4 million, which
is astounding and agent outlet base
reached around 10,000. We
launched agent banking in
November 2019, and we are moving
fast. We have soft-launched 17
outlets, and we aspire to reach 150
outlets by 2020. Beside deposit
products, we are going to offer
home loan products of small ticket
size for our agent banking. Besides
banking services, customers can
pay for different utility services,
avail remittance services, Passport
fee, online to offline (O2O) and
commerce services, among others.
Do you have any message for
the young generation and
aspiring bankers?
Passion, execution through skill and
problem solving – these three things
are much needed for our youth. The
world is changing fast, big data, AI
and Machine learning are changing
business models of any business
more quickly. They need to prepare
themselves, and they can work on
solving different points.
Fresh graduates who aspire to build
a career in banks, it is an excellent
industry filled with prospects. The
best way to start a career in
banking is to start as a
management trainee. To become an
MTO, they need to take
comprehensive preparation and
should have excellent analytical and
communication skills.