Barclays appoints director to drive retail and business

What you need to know:

  • Among the things he is expected to deliver on is embedding the shared distribution strategy which is premised on using the branch network to serve SME customers, in addition to retail customers. He will also be expected to deliver cutting edge and relevant solutions for the two segments.
  • The bank which also poached Susan Situma from Kenya Commercial bank to head its Enterprise Banking unit said the changes will enhance its ties with clients.

Barclays Bank of Kenya has appointed a director to drive its twin retail and business banking units in response to its new market dynamics.

The bank’s former director of Retail banking Zahid Mustafa will now head the new unit which aims to create better ties between the bank and its target market.

Mr Zahid whose career in banking spans 20 years will oversee the reappraisal of the Retail and Business Banking units, which are the bank’s growth engines.

Among the things he is expected to deliver on is embedding the shared distribution strategy which is premised on using the branch network to serve SME customers, in addition to retail customers. He will also be expected to deliver cutting edge and relevant solutions for the two segments.

A holder of MBA from Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore Mr Zahid has been at BBK for 9 years in Retail and Business Banking after serving at Citi bank for 11 years.

Rapid diversification

The moves to strengthen business, retail and SME banking comes in the wake of the bank’s rapid diversification from its traditional corporate banking amidst stiff completion in the Kenyan market.

The bank which also poached Susan Situma from Kenya Commercial bank to head its Enterprise Banking unit said the changes will enhance its ties with clients.

“Barclays is confident that these changes will play a big role in the development and execution of a strategy that will help it form a deeper connection with its key stakeholders and therefore propel it towards its ambition of becoming the ‘Go To’ bank,” Barclays stated.

The bank set up the Business Banking unit in 2014 and has in the last 2 years rolled out a Sh30 billion loan kitty for SMEs and a Sh5 billion loan kitty for women owned SME businesses.