Digital and branchless banking holds future

• Banks should keep focus on innovation

Interview with Mr Salman Ahmed Khan — Unit Head Fraud Risk Management Department, Summit Bank Limited

PAGE: Tell me something about yourself, please:

Salman Ahmed Khan: I am working as Unit Head in Fraud Risk Management in Summit Bank. I am heading Fraud Monitoring Team for Digital Frauds and also looking after Periodic Regulatory Fraud Reporting to State Bank of Pakistan.

PAGE: How would you comment on digital experiences for banking sector consumers?

Salman Ahmed Khan: Future is of digital and branchless banking. Banks which are leading today is due to adoption of the state-of-the-art technology. They are providing services with innovation. With the mobile age technology upon us and the need for UI/UX as separate departments within the banks, it is evident that customer experience is of utmost importance. Banks which promote their mobile apps need to realize that in terms of UX they are not competing with other banks but other applications such as Netflix and FB that are tailor-made to provide personalized experiences. Instant services, clear call to action, minimum steps and authentication, personalized marketing, etc. are all key factors to developing new age experiences.

PAGE: Could you tell me about the use of telecom services in Summit Bank?

Salman Ahmed Khan: Summit Bank is committed to provide best services to its customers. Having one of the best teams in Digital Banking, it is providing prevailing services to its customers like Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Debit Card, ATM Services, Bill Payment Services, IBFT Services etc.

PAGE: Are Pakistani banks leaders in digitalization in banking through investment and innovation?

Salman Ahmed Khan: Yes, Pakistani banks are investigating in Digital Banking and keeping themselves busy in innovating products better and better. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also emphasizes banks to keep their services flawless. Banks in Pakistan have without doubt accelerated in terms of innovation. As far as basic infrastructure is concerned, we still lag behind our first-world counterparts, but in terms of service offerings, we have leapfrogged to more comparable areas. Banks provide easy digital and instant onboarding, social e-commerce such as WhatsApp banking, banking on the go, etc. However, in addition to the basic services, banks in Pakistan still have a long ways to go to become digital-centric banks. Most banks still do not harness the power of automation (aside from a few of the top ones) or usage of data for calculated decision-making. From the front-end user perspective, yes we are getting there but there are many technologies we lack especially for data, automation and AI.

PAGE: How could digital transformation in the banking sector be further accelerated?

Salman Ahmed Khan: Banks are working to keep their digital banking more secure. One of the examples is that they introduced SMS/email alerts, CBC (Call Back Confirmation), Two-factor authentication for funds transfer through Internet Banking, Bio Matric at their ATMs etc.

PAGE: How would you comment on the use of digital technology by traditional banks?

Salman Ahmed Khan: The banks with investment in Digital Banking and continuously working for innovation will lead in the future. Those which do not change their focus will be far behind. Much like countries abroad, in terms of innovation and technological prowess, fintechs have proven to be more innovative in terms of specific use cases whereas banks are mostly dependent on legacy systems. It is not easy for a monolith such as a bank to change its line of progress towards digitalization in a span of a few years hence banks are tackling to innovate and enhance their tech stack but I believe they will be undermined by their fintech counterparts. Banks need to gear up to match the faced-paced nature of the current customers and invest in more meaningful areas of expertise, in essence, banks have an edge over fintechs in terms of data. Their tech should revolve around building homogenous partnerships with fintechs whereby a bank can focus on harnessing data and let the fintechs take the front-end stage. This again would allow banks to leapfrog to more comparable technologies and allow for easier advancement for the industry as a whole.