Steward Bank says it will continue to use its digital platforms to improve financial inclusion to meet the funding needs of informal traders and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
It did so after the bank disbursed nearly 500,000 loans to informal traders through the bank’s Kashagi Nano lending platform in fiscal year 2021.
The year under review was characterized by economic volatility due to the Covid 19 pandemic, which reduced business activity and led to working capital bottlenecks. The informal traders were hardest hit.
“The bank tried to solve this problem by taking advantage of digital loans that were available to informal traders and SMEs in need of financial assistance in the form of loans,” said CEO Courage Mashavave.
“Using the Kashagi Nano credit platform, the bank has succeeded in paying out digital loans via cell phone. The platform enabled the marginalized population to access cheap loans immediately within a minute of submitting their application.
“More than 400,000 Kashagi loans were given to individuals across the country, with 25 percent of the loans going to women,” he said.
According to the bank, more than 6,900 women had access to Kwenga’s pay machines, while 2,436 women had access to traditional POS devices, making a total of 9,336 women with access to POS devices in the year under review.
Values ​​processed through the POS machines totaled more than $ 900 million. Mr Mashavave said the company will continue to address financial inclusion in the country while capitalizing on the growing digitization initiatives that are being implemented in the financial services sector and across the economy.
“Great efforts are being made to improve the customer experience on the bank’s digital platforms and touchpoints.
“The company will use artificial intelligence to anticipate and meet customer needs, as well as remedying inefficiencies related to human intervention and error. The client is viewed from a 360 degree focus to better serve their underlying banking needs, â€he said.
In the year under review, Steward Bank launched an initiative as part of its “Go Digital†campaign to drive customers out of its branches and start transactions on its digital platforms.
Value-added services were implemented around the bank’s products, such as Visa Direct and Visa Mobile Application, which completely eliminated the need for customer inquiries related to Visa cards that required human intervention.
Mr Mashavave added that the bank plans to add more branch-related services to its mobile platforms as it pursues its aspiration to become a full-fledged digital bank, which is also the new normal.
Meanwhile, the bank’s net operating profit declined 34 percent year over year, adjusted for inflation.
But the digital revenue line rose to $ 980 million from $ 237 million last year due to its digital innovations that ranged from USD banking, Visa card integrations, and POS inventions.
