There was a time when snaking queues outside banks were a normal sight at the beginning of the school term. In one bank, so as not to inconvenience the other clients, they dedicated space in the basement parking area to handle school fees payers. Woe onto you if you were not ready and seated at 7 am, you would be assured of many hours of waiting to pay.
To speed the process along you filled in fees slips, made sure your money was in the correct denominations, and was the exact amount, including the UGX2000 banking fees. When you paid you left a slip with the bank, you took another to school, and you kept one for yourself.
How times have changed?
In a trend we at PostBank are experiencing daily and is mirrored around the industry, we have seen school fee payments over the counter collapsing from up to 80 percent to just about 20 percent in the just concluded school fees payment cycle.
People are now using our mobile and internet banking, Wendi wallet, and USSD codes to transact. The school fees lines are barely discernible now, as people don’t need to come to the banking hall to transact.
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The savings in time and convenience for our clients is indisputable. The time that would have been spent lining up can now be spent more productively speaking directly to our mission to Grow and Prosper Ugandans. Not to mention the convenience of being able to transact anywhere, anytime.
As part of a wider trend of automation and digitization, this has been good for the industry’s revenues and bottom line. It makes sense. With technology comes operational efficiency. Technology is increasing industry revenues as clients have more access to information about the various bank products and the banks are delivering these products at a fraction of what it cost previously.
Previously if you came into the bank and did not ask or the official did not volunteer information of other products other than the one you were there for, you did not benefit. Now clients often pull down the menu and see what else is there or the bank can send them prompts.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg of the revolutionary changes happening now and soon in the industry.
The trend away from physical contact towards digital and online platforms is established. Looking to the future the possibilities are quite dramatic. Already the use of biometrics and enhanced security measures will become standard.
We are already authenticating our identities using fingerprints, voice, and facial recognition. Already we are instructing our gadgets using our voices. Will we do this by thought in the foreseeable future?
Staying with the school fees example, with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) which can mine the massive amounts of data that come into the bank, with visibility of the client’s account — we will be able to advise the client on how to rationalize expenditure given school fees dues coming up. Suggest possible financing options given their account activity, even suppliers of back-to-school things.
This last one will be possible because our partnerships are not only with the school but with other school suppliers — since we can match supply and demand through our systems.
As it is now you deal with the bank, then the school, then the suppliers, but in the future, this will be seamless to the point of being able to anticipate the client’s needs. This will be made possible by super apps that serve an ecosystem of demand and supply agents.
Data and AI will play a significant role in automating relationship management, providing financial advice, and enhancing customer service.
The centralization of customer financial data across different platforms and wallets will improve credit decisions and financial planning. This will benefit customers and the bank by providing a comprehensive view of financial behavior and enabling better decision-making.
The future of life generally and the banking industry in particular is exciting and at PostBank we will find many opportunities to Grow and Prosper our clients by keeping abreast of the latest technological developments.
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Editor’s Note: This article was written by Adons Aryong, Head of Data Analytics and Retail Products at PostBank Uganda.
