Banks, fintechs collaboration must be built on trust and transparency

The Head of Business Enablement at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Marian Amartey, has urged banks and fintech to build their partnerships on a trust and open-minded approach.

In their quest to build synergies, and achieve growth and sustainability, she said the two must work collectively in an open and transparent manner. This way, she said, banks and fintech will significantly contribute to building a robust financial sector, increase financial inclusion, and ultimately support economic recovery and growth.

Speaking at the 2023 Money Summit organized by the B&FT in Accra, she mentioned that fintech and banks must build trust and uphold transparency in their collaboration so as to engender innovations that meet the ever-changing needs of customers.

She also pointed out that successful collaboration requires both parties to pay attention to unforeseen risks around strategy, operation, and cyber security. Ms. Amartey stressed that effective partnership requires “first, being open-minded in terms of our approach; but again prioritising the customer in whatever approach is decided”.

“The second thing is ensuring that we continue to build trust. Why this partnership or this collaboration has not worked in the past due to a lack of trust? You find fintech talking to customers without the banks. The banks come in and the customer is confused. So now we need to go back to managing the relationship. It is very important. The last point is monitoring our risk when it comes to collaborating,” she said.

Ms. Amartey, who was speaking on the topic ‘From competition to collaboration: how fintech is shaping the future finance’, further explained how the possible risks can be identified and managed: “We have to monitor to ensure that it [risk] does not even occur at all, to make sure that whatever we put in place speaks to the client’s need and also safeguards the customer, in that their information does not end up in the wrong hands”.

Meanwhile, she urged both banks and fintech to consider investing in data analysis, adding that it will drive how both parties execute their operations adequately to meet market demands in the face of changing customer experience.

“It is quite important how we invest in analysing data within our space, and how we make use of all data we get,” she said, adding that: “To ensure that we make this a reality, the banks and fintech will have to continuously collaborate and desist from the ‘us against them’ mindset.”

The global fintech market was valued at US$ 112.5 billion in the year 2021 and is projected to reach a value of US$ 332.5 billion by 2028. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.8 percent. This, indeed, is a clear manifestation of the fact that the fintech industry is shaping the future of finance and demands the collaboration of banks for a robust sector.

The fintech industry’s evolution has transferred the provision of financial services and aided in guiding the global economy into a cash economy, thereby equipping individuals and businesses to transact larger volumes of products and services without having to transport large sums of physical cash across borders, and even domestically.

The B&FT’s 2023 Money Summit seeks to enhance investor confidence and bring together actors in the financial sector to provide solutions that will or can anchor investor confidence in the economy, as well as ease the hardship and challenges of businesses. It was themed Africa’s robust financial sector: The Catalyst for sustainable economic growth.