DIGITAL STRATEGY WITH
MauBank
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A D I G I TA L BA N K I N G EC O SYST EM
— MauBank WRIT TEN BY
ANDRE W WOODS PRODUCED BY
JUS TIN BR AND
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Chief Information and Digital Officer Sudheer Prabhu is the man taking MauBank’s digital transformation strategy forward…
M
auritius is undergoing something of a banking boom right now. The island is fast becoming known as a growing, stable
financial hub with banking options in sub-Saharan Africa often preferred to the often-volatile African markets; there is currently $38bn in banking sector 04
assets held offshore. Cross-border banking in Africa, since the global giants vacated the area following the global financial crisis in 2008, has opened up many areas of growth and MauBank – Mauritus’ third largest bank – is one such beneficiary of this new space. To keep its customer offerings aligned with the demands of the modern marketplace, while operating as efficiently as possible, MauBank is in the process of digitalizing its customer journey and operational processes as it undergoes a transformation through engineering of business processes to bring operational efficiencies while reducing cost across the company. This is an overhaul that is seeing major growth at the bank as it reaches out further afield for new clients, and areas of expansion. Chief
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Information and Digital Officer Sudheer Prabhu is the man taking MauBank’s digital strategy even further. “I was hired to put a digital strategy in place, which is in line with the management’s vision of the bank that completely supports technology-driven processes and initiatives to enhance the customer experience as well as bringing in operational efficiency,” Prabhu explains. One of the initial considerations behind the changes at MauBank related to the current regulatory environment of the market. “To create a strategy, you need to understand the current market situation and regulations,” he explains. “’What is the current regulatory environment in which we are operating as a bank?’ So, we did a bit of research before working on a three-pronged strategy.” The first initiative launched by Prabhu and his team was the total digitisation of the bank’s board, rendering the internal operations
“ Our entire board meeting is now done on tablets with uploaded papers. That was where we started the digital journey” — Sudheer Prabhu, Chief Information and Digital Officer
at MauBank paperless. “Our entire board meeting is now done on tablets with uploaded papers. That was where we started the digital journey,” Prabhu explains. With any large-scale implementation of new technologically-driven processes, staff have to be comfortable with the new processes and technologies. “You really need ambassadors within the organisations,” Prabhu explains. w w w.ma uba nk. m u /en
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MAUBANK — OUR VALUES’ 09 “Which means the staff must be ena-
banking application was already here
bled before they can first embrace the
for our banking transactions, so we
digital transformation. This has to hap-
could then connect small micro-services
pen before we can tell our customers and
to it through the API (application prog-
before we engage with customers and
ramming interface). So, our strategy
enable them with digital tools.
was to start with implementation of the
“We then embarked on creating an open and flexible digital eco system that enables new business insights and
ecosystem, to enable us to move fast in the digital era.” MauBank migrated to a newly-devel-
opportunities, leveraging the power of
oped HR system, which interacts with
data, while at the same time providing
a mobile banking application so that
anytime, anywhere access to Bank’s
staff can now use their mobile to get
customers, so we could be agile, quick
details for approval. “Everything is
to market and faster when implement-
digital. We have our internal social media
ing newer technologies. A strong core
platform too, and so the digital seed is w w w.ma uba nk. m u /en
“ Everything is digital. We have our internal social media platform too, and so the digital seed is already born 10 in the staff. Now they are embracing the digital transformation and how it can benefit them” — Sudheer Prabhu, Chief Information and Digital Officer
already born in the staff. Now they are embracing the digital transformation and how it can benefit them.” Once the internal landscape had been reconfigured the bank could focus its attention out towards the customer. MauBank began with paperless account opening at branches for walk-in customers using a workflowbased system from Laserfiche. Prabhu was then tasked with further enhancing the customer experience. “We were now ready to launch a unique mobile application to our customers that enables them to open accounts sitting in their homes using their National Identity Cards through technologies like OCR (optical character recognition) and RPA
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ABOUT MAUBANK — PERSONAL AND BUSINESS BANKING’ 11 E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Sudheer Prabhu Sudheer has over 27 years of experience in the banking industry. He has worked at some of the most highly reputed international banks, implementing corebanking and digital banking solutions. His key experience is around formulation of Digital Transformation Strategies for customer acquisition, servicing and enhancing user experience for both Retail and Corporate customers using disruptive technologies like APIs, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Sudheer also has experience in formulating strategies for cost reduction and increase productivity through use of technologies like RPA for automation of processes.
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MUR
995.2mn Approximate revenue
2016
Year founded
650
Approximate number of employees 12
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“ To create a strategy, you need to understand the current market situation and regulations” — Sudheer Prabhu, Chief Information and Digital Officer
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(robotic process automation). We are
gies to the bank and kickstarted the
using the API to connect online with
process with a simple FAQ chatbot,
our core banking system for the crea-
following on from the success of bots
tion of these accounts. As of last year,
with more specific functions, onto
we introduced multiple features to
the company’s website. “Our virtual
our banking application to enable our
assistant was the first full-fledged
400,000-strong client base to enhance
FAQ banking bot on the island. and it
their experience and banking needs.
uses artificial intelligence in respond-
In short, we are trying to take the
ing to the customer. When more
bank to their homes, rather than them
questions are added, it can interpret
coming to us.�
and respond to the queries. The next
Prabhu then focused his effort on
phase is to take this conversational
bringing Artificial Intelligence (AI),
AI platform to the next level by provid-
Machine learning and NLP technolo-
ing transactional services. w w w.ma uba nk. m u /en
“ We are trying to take the bank to their homes rather than them coming to us” MauBank and its staff are involved in many environmental and social projects. Below: Staff engagement activity for children living in shelters.
— Sudheer Prabhu, Chief Information and Digital Officer
As MauBank builds on the concept of bringing the bank into the home for its customers, Prabhu has now started working on enabling customers to apply for loans from their homes, with an online lending solution which leverages RPA and API technologies ready to launch in the near future.
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25 Bank Street Cyber City Ebene 72201 Republic of Mauritius T (+230) 405 9400 www.maubank.mu/en