Nedbank notches up 1.7m digitally active customers

Nedbank has experienced accelerated adoption across its digital banking platforms, with a 30% growth rate from 2018.

After undertaking its digital transformation journey to address clients’ requirements, the big four bank says it now has 1.7 million digitally active customers, with its digital channels witnessing faster growth rates than walk-in branch services.

Mutsa Chironga, managing executive of consumer banking at Nedbank, told ITWeb the bank is constantly focused on improving its products and services across all channels, with additional services on the cards in the new year.

“Our digital transformation initiatives are premised on several pillars: cost efficiency, convenience, affordability and security, all focused on enhancing the customer service journey for our clients.

“We are seeing an increase in adoption of our digital banking platforms, with the Nedbank Money App currently having a user base of 871 000, while the mobile wallet-based account, MobiMoney, has signed up around 250 000 users.”

The number of payment transactions conducted on Nedbank’s digital platforms recently surpassed R37 billion, he adds.

The Nedbank Money App, launched in November 2017, was rated the number one app by users on Android and iOS, among the five major retail banks in SA. This, according to Chironga, is an indication that its users are experiencing higher satisfaction levels than users of other banking apps.

Last month, the Old Mutual-owned bank introduced Money App Lite, a more streamlined and lighter version of the Nedbank Money App, which is less data-intensive and uses less space on mobile devices.

Absa says it has 1.6 million digitally active users across all its digital platforms, with the Absa Banking App seeing a 26.7% year-on-year growth.

First National Bank (FNB) told ITWeb its banking app had over 2.8 million active users, last December, indicating a 12% increase on the 2.5 million active app users the bank had at the end of June 2018.

Overall, FNB has 8.2 million customers in SA, with around a third of those clients using the app. Financial transactions on the FNB app are growing by 52% year on year.

Accelerating sales strategy

With a presence in seven Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East Africa countries, Nedbank has continued its ongoing expansion through subsidiaries and banks in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, as well as representative offices in Angola and Kenya.

The bank is also harnessing the power of technology to enhance its sales strategy, notes Chironga.

“A big part of our digital strategy is to enable quick and easy digital sales, through the products and services offered via the app and the mobile wallet, including purchasing airtime, opening bank accounts, making loan applications and sending money to over 33 African countries through our partnership with Eco bank. We’ve recently added funeral insurance as a product offering and we are constantly adding different products and services.”

Through its partnership with software company, Hey Jude, Nedbank offers an array of services on its app aimed at supporting customers beyond banking services, including finance assist, medical-on-demand services and a digital personal assistant.

It was the first local bank to launch a scan-to-pay solution within its app, allowing customers to scan a Masterpass, Snapscan or Zapper QR code to make retail purchases and use utility services without their banking card.

In June, Nedbank announced a point of sale finance application partnership with Switch Pay that enables merchants to facilitate finance applications in-store, on behalf of their customers.

While the bank is continuously running educational campaigns to increase the number of users on its banking platforms, Chironga points out general challenges that often deter banking customers from using digital platforms are a complex on-boarding process, lack of education and high data costs.

“While there are different customer segments, with some being more digitally inclined than others, it’s clear that Nedbank is in the middle of a huge digital migration. Even though there may be many customers who are not utilising the digital channels today, that situation is changing very quickly, influenced by driving education and awareness initiatives.”