Technology makes banking with KCB a great experience

BY ANNASTACIA KIMTAI

Over the last 50 years since independence, Kenya has grown its key sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, financial services, tourism and telecommunications.

Technology has been a key driver for these sectors’ growth and is continuously evolving with the ever changing needs of customer lifestyles, society and government.

The banking industry has come of age, from very manual service delivery to a technology driven sector.

Today, IT platforms are the engines that have enabled banks to provide services to millions of customers and across the globe in real-time.

There are 43 licensed commercial banks in Kenya, suggesting a robust financial services economy especially with inclusion of telcos.

KCB was the first commercial bank to establish its roots in Kenya. It bank has a long heritage that dates back to 1896. For over 117 years, the bank has been supporting the strong economic growth of Eastern African countries, namely Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Sudan.

KCB made the first big stride in technology in 2007 with the roll out of a state of the art core banking system.

The key objective of this implementation was to give KCB a platform that would provide fast and efficient customer service and the capacity to offer world-class technology-driven products and services.

That means all KCB branches across the six countries are simultaneously connected in real time.
All 243 KCB branches, over 1,000 ATMs and more than 6,000 agents in Kenya and Rwanda can provide the same service to all customers any time anywhere.

In the last 10 years, the bank has pursued an aggressive growth and expansion strategy backed by a state of the art system that has guaranteed seamless connectivity across the network.

Interconnectivity

This means that KCB customers can walk into any KCB branch, ATM or Agent in any of the six countries, and undertake banking services real time. The interconnectivity has enabled Kenyans to venture into business start-ups and partnerships beyond the borders, and in essence making the EAC dream a reality.

In recent times, the service experience within KCB banking halls has changed with the roll-out of the Electronic Queue Management System (eQMS).

Long winding queues will be a thing of the past once the service is rolled out to all branches.

A visit to some Nairobi CBD branches will attest to the new improved way of banking, where customers receive a ticket dependent on service requirements and are channelled to relevant counters for quick and efficiently service.

This is not the only noticeable change, while customers wait to be served, they are seated comfortably in designated waiting areas and get an opportunity to know of the bank products with strategically placed LCD screens.

A recent banking research undertaken by Millward Brown revealed that over 96 per cent of the unbanked population desires to have a bank account but perceive banks as rigid and unapproachable.

To reach out to the unbanked, KCB has recently launched KCB M-Benki, a product that now enables them to open a bank account on their phone and do all their banking transactions on the phone anywhere and at any time.

This revolutionary innovation has removed the biggest stumbling block of changing perceptions, but has also driven the message of accessibility and service convenience.

Bank service delivery has changed over time, whereby customers are no longer required to go physically to the banking premises to transact.

Electronic banking is steadily growing and with 41 per cent of the population currently accessing the Internet with a growth of over five per cent annually, the new way of banking will be a game changer to traditional banking channels.

KCB has been first in embracing electronic technology by being the first to roll out mobile banking in 2006, and having a robust online banking platform that serves both the individual and business customer.

Social media has become a must have tool of communication with organisations. More customers are going online to compliment, enquire and critique.

KCB actively engages with customers. To date, we have over 85,000 Facebook fans and Twitter followers.

Driving awareness

Both platforms have been instrumental in driving awareness of KCB products and services, address customer issues, and obtain valuable customer suggestions on how best to take banking to the next level.

The interactions are not only on the social media platforms, but also on the group’s website, where customers can chat live with service consultants at the 24 hour Contact Centre.

KCB is in the forefront of technology uptake and strives to continuously invest in solutions that shall create more efficiency and make banking a delightful experience.

Mrs Kimtai is KCB’s director for Retail Banking