FORGING A RICH HERITAGE
DRIVING FINANCIAL INCLUSION
I&M Bank is a leading player in the Kenyan financial services market and has been consistently expanding and innovating its array of products and services to meet the needs of the dynamic consumer. We cash in on the company’s exciting ambitions and plans for financial inclusion with its Executive General Manager for Personal and Business Banking, Shameer Patel
Writer: Ed Budds
Project Manager: Tom Cullum
There has arguably never been a more fascinating time to work in the African finance industry than now.
Within this expansive sector, the continuous rise of niche FinTech companies has necessitated an increased need for cooperation and strategic partnerships with governments, banking institutions, and other key players in order to meet the rising financial demands of the continent’s myriad communities.
Shameer Patel, I&M Bank’s Executive General Manager for Personal and Business Banking (far left) and I&M Group PLC’s General Manager for Digital Business, Eunice Gatama (far right), look on as I&M Bank CEO Gul Khan and Craft Silicon Group CEO Kamal Budhabhatti navigate the Buy Now, Pay Later user journey on the bank’s On The Go (OTG) mobile application. The proposition is an enhancement to I&M Bank’s unsecured lending and uses machine learning (ML) to determine lending limits. It leverages Spotit, a platform by Craft Silicon Group.
Elsewhere, the unprecedented increase in youth populations across the region has grown the opportunity for new methods of enhancing financial inclusion, whilst the rising adoption of mobile and internet technologies has also become a key enabler for economic growth, inspiring many African companies to innovate solutions that leverage these new platforms.
This enhanced digital footprint has helped the likes of I&M Bank to personalise their financial products and service solutions to customers.
Established in 1974 as a small finance house, this year marks the 50th anniversary of I&M Bank, a Tier 1 Kenyan bank and wholly owned subsidiary of I&M Group PLC, a public company listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
I&M Group PLC offers a full range of banking and financial services covering corporate, business, and personal banking, wealth management, bancassurance, and advisory services
AFRICA OUTLOOK: WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF FINANCE?
SHAMEER PATEL, EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER FOR PERSONAL AND BUSINESS BANKING: “A career in banking was never on the cards for me, as I chose instead to pursue studies in economics and geography with a view to focus on geology, until one day I thought about the opportunities that were available at the time if I went down that path.
“After graduating, I joined a small local bank as a Junior Officer before joining I&M Bank, then known as Investments & Mortgages Bank, as a Management Trainee. The rotational programme saw me serve in different functions, eventually rising to branch leadership and Corporate Relationships Manager.
“I ended up in the CEO’s office, followed by setting up the Strategy and Transformation function, including the digital factory during a period of significant transformation to a retail universal bank, before moving on to lead the consolidated Personal and Business Banking segment. It is now nearly 25 years since I joined I&M Bank.”
I&M Bank’s Nairobi head office is a Grade A development featuring cutting-edge eco-design, an integrated photovoltaic glass roof that generates power for the bank, and glass walls that filter out up to 99 percent of UV radiation and 95 percent of infrared radiation (IR) insulating the building both thermally and acoustically, minimising energy demand.
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with a presence spanning across five countries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Mauritius through a joint venture with CIEL Group (Bank One).
“We have a long-standing presence in Kenya’s banking industry, with a staff complement of nearly 1,700 and now leveraging 53 branches across the country,” says Executive General Manager for Personal and Business Banking, Shameer Patel.
A GOLDEN LEGACY
I&M Bank’s market-ready products are highly relevant to Kenyans, whilst customer centricity is at the core of the company’s business decisions.
“Having grown from a small family business, the ethos of our Founder and Chairman, Emeritus S.B.R. Shah, ‘empathy for the customer’, has prevailed. Many of our customers have banked on us from inception, and we have witnessed great loyalty and goodwill from the communities we serve over the years,” Shameer explains.
This impressive reputation has earned the company many accolades, such as the ‘Most Customer Centric Bank’ award at the
“THE BANK HAS UNDERGONE A SIGNIFICANT TRANSFORMATION WHICH HAS SUPPORTED SCALE IN GROWTH ACROSS THE RETAIL SEGMENT THROUGH ITS DIGITAL SOLUTIONS, ENABLED BY PHYSICAL EXPANSION AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT RESONATE WITH THE EVERYDAY KENYAN CONSUMER”
–
SHAMEER PATEL, EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER FOR PERSONAL AND BUSINESS BANKING, I&M BANK
2024 Think Business Banking Awards, as well as a first place ranking in the Kenyan Banking Consumer Sentiment on Social Media Index, a nationwide rating of banking sector players.
Additionally, the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSS), which currently stand at an impressive 75 and 95 percent, respectively, position I&M Bank comfortably above industry standards.
I&M Bank recognises that digitisation is key to meeting the challenges of modern banking and has undergone a digital transformation that has embraced ecosystem partnerships, omnichannel distribution, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for lending decisions, which offer greater flexibility and efficiency in managing its digital business.
This shift has significantly reduced I&M’s reliance on legacy systems as the bank continuously aims for more secure, efficient, and costeffective processes. Some of the enhancements include the ability to fully onboard customers digitally, which has reduced time to onboard from 24 hours to circa five minutes and lowered the cost to acquire by 44 percent and serve by 72 percent.
NEW RETAIL STRATEGY
I&M’s new transformative retail strategy, driven by the optimisation of its distribution network and digital solutions, is focused on scaling phygital experiences through faceto-face distribution infrastructure and leveraging digital and strategic partnership initiatives to deepen financial inclusion in Kenya.
One of I&M Bank’s sustainable container branches. They are solar powered and make use of end-oflife shipping containers, departing from harmfully extracted materials used for brick-and-mortar approaches.
Setting industry standards and opening new doors of banking innovation for the world’s leading banks
Sunoida Solutions DMCC is one of the fastest-growing Business Intelligence and Analytics solution providers for the world’s leading banks. Headquartered in Dubai with a growing presence in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia Pacific, Sunoida delivers cutting-edge solutions spanning banking business intelligence, revenue assurance, supervisory and regulatory technology solutions, and artificial intelligence solutions through its Vision Suite of banking solutions.
Founded by a team of highly experienced senior executives from the banking and financial industry, Sunoida is an ISO /IEC 27001:2022 certified enterprise, underlining its commitment to consistently deliver the finest banking software.
With 62+ banking customers across 28 countries, Sunoida continues to power and shape the future of banking intelligence through innovative solutions that help banks realise the true potential their data holds and help them make massive improvements and gain a competitive edge in today’s fast-changing financial landscape. With proven success stories, Sunoida has also been the focus of many benchmark studies including the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Cambridge State of SupTech Report, Global Regulatory Reporting Trends Survey by the Financial Services Agency (Japan), The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Delivering best-in-class business value with our Vision suite of solutions
With an increasing number of channels and transaction volumes, revenue leakage can occur at any stage of the customer engagement cycle. Sunoida’s Vision Revenue Assurance enhances data quality, optimises systems and processes to prevent income leakages from funded and non-funded income thereby improving the banks’ profitability and the customer experience.
With millions of daily transactions, banks struggle to gain deeper insights into their operations. Vision Banking BI offers a web-based solution providing comprehensive, real-time analytics across multiple dimensions to help banks improve performance and make informed strategic decisions.
The collection of granular and real-time data by regulators from all financial institutions in the country is a resource-intensive and error-prone process. Vision SupTech automates this process ensuring data quality and provides intelligence to the regulator through centralised dashboards that provide a holistic view of the entire country’s financial sector
As the banking landscape evolves, automation becomes crucial for meeting stringent regulatory requirements. Vision RegTech automates data
retrieval, report generation, and validation, allowing banks to comply with strict timelines and minimise risks associated with manual processes.
The Sunoida advantage
Sunoida’s Vision suite of solutions is crafted to empower the world’s leading banks with real-time intelligence and analytics. By delivering exceptional quality with the fastest implementation time in the industry and highly parameterized and configurable products, Sunoida aims to simplify complex business requirements, allowing for rapid adaptation.
With guaranteed end-to-end implementation of Vision solutions in days rather than months, Sunoida’s Vision suite of solutions has empowered the world’s fastest-growing banks with real-time intelligence and analytics, ensuring that they operate with confidence and discover their unique pathways to profitability. Sunoida’s commitment to banking innovation positions its clients at the forefront of the industry, enabling them to redefine what’s possible so they don’t just thrive, but lead the way into a new era of banking excellence.
Leadership quotes
“Sunoida is committed to redefining the standards of banking analytics, consistently expanding our solution portfolio to deliver unmatched value where every bank can turn data into their greatest asset.”
Suleman
Dossani
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Sunoida Solutions
“Sunoida’s groundbreaking solutions set new benchmarks in banking intelligence and our unwavering dedication to delivering the extraordinary ensures we keep pushing bigger boundaries for our clients each time.”
Sukirat Singh Kochar
Executive Director & Chief Revenue Officer
Sunoida Solutions
“This year alone, we have opened 12 new branches across Kenya, with several more planned for Q4 2024, and we aim to reach 100 by the end of 2026. In line with its innovative philosophy, the bank is also opening branches constructed from end-oflife containers which are fully solar powered and thus self-sustaining,” added Shameer.
This branch expansion programme is key to the bank’s drive to scale up its retail business. Already extremely strong in the corporate and
commercial segments, I&M Bank now wants to become more relevant in in the retail segment with a special focus on individuals and small businesses.
“Our aim is to get to one million customers by 2026, and digitisation is critical to achieving this objective. We have invested 28 percent of our capital expenditure into this and have seen significant growth in the adoption of our digital services, with 82 percent of customers now digitally active and an average of three million mobile online banking transactions per month.
“We continue to launch innovative digital solutions such as free bankto-mobile wallet (M-PESA and Airtel Money) transfers for individuals and small business owners, as well as more traditional banking products including the largest unsecured personal loan in the market, with both initiatives being the first by any bank in Kenya. These, coupled with other elements, have led to the bank scaling its new customer base with tenfold growth in new customers per month compared to a year back,” he adds.
“WE CONTINUE TO LAUNCH INNOVATIVE DIGITAL SOLUTIONS SUCH AS FREE BANK-TO-MOBILE WALLET (M-PESA AND AIRTEL MONEY) TRANSFERS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, AS WELL
AS
MORE TRADITIONAL BANKING PRODUCTS
INCLUDING THE LARGEST UNSECURED PERSONAL LOAN IN THE MARKET, WITH BOTH INITIATIVES BEING THE FIRST BY ANY BANK IN KENYA. THESE, COUPLED WITH OTHER ELEMENTS, HAVE LED TO THE BANK SCALING ITS NEW CUSTOMER BASE WITH TENFOLD GROWTH IN NEW CUSTOMERS PER MONTH COMPARED TO A YEAR BACK”
–
SHAMEER PATEL,
EXECUTIVE
GENERAL
MANAGER
FOR PERSONAL AND BUSINESS BANKING, I&M BANK
I&M Bank CEO Gul Khan flags off a roadshow motorcade in Narok, a new location. The bank has had several market storm activations across Kenya, delivering its services to the people where they are as part of its retail strategy.
track the implementation of partner organisations in a catalytic and valueadding manner,” Shameer expounds.
A COMMITMENT TO CHANGE
I&M Bank passionately believes the prosperity of business and society are inextricably linked and that investing in social initiatives generates a positive multiplier effect.
It therefore established the I&M Foundation in 2020 to deliver the shared value agenda and sets aside two percent of its profit before tax every year towards the foundation –the only bank in the country to do so.
“The four pillars of the I&M Foundation are Environmental Conservation, Education and Skills Development, Economic Empowerment, and Enabling Giving. The foundation’s approach is to work with partners to deliver its objectives by seeking to leverage and complement resources, skills, experiences, and knowledge, and the
This year, I&M Bank also embarked on a flagship sustainability project that underscores its commitment to Principles 7 and 8 of the UN Global Compact to support the national climate action agenda through a public-private partnership with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to rehabilitate and develop infrastructure at the Ngong Road Forest Station in Nairobi.
The scope of this extensive project, which seeks to give the residents of Nairobi County an alternative recreation area away from Karura Forest, includes the production of seedlings, rehabilitation of degraded forest areas, and fencing of the sanctuary section of Ngong Road Forest.
The project will be fully funded by the I&M Foundation and undertaken in three phases over three years, after which the foundation will be seeking
partners to help scale the project.
TODAY’S PROMISES, TOMORROW’S AMBITIONS
The future is undoubtedly full of exciting plans for I&M Bank. Striving to conquer its ambitious goals, the bank embraces both organic and inorganic growth strategies which have led to some iconic mergers and acquisitions.
“Our long-term ambition is to become Eastern Africa’s leading financial partner for growth and our three-year objectives include impacting 10 million lives by 2026. Our strategy is anchored in a sustainability agenda, where we are incorporating responsible practices at all levels of operation and business,” Shameer concludes.
I&M Bank bags seven awards at the 2024 Think Business Banking Awards, including 1st - The Most Customer Centric Bank, 3rd - Best Bank in Sustainable CSR, 3rd - Best Bank in Corporate Banking, 2nd - Best Bank in Internet Banking, 3rd - Best Bank in Trade Financing, Class Act of 20 Years (awarded to five banks only) and 3rd - Best Bank in Mobile Banking.
