INDUSTRY WATCH
4. Develop new products and services in
Egypt to better serve our customers
there and to bring products and
services in Egypt up to the same
standard as our home market.
Can you give us the time
scales behind the project(s)
and the cost-factor involved
for the implementation and
maintenance?
The digital platforms for mobile (NBAD
Securities) and domestic retail banking
were launched in mid 2015 with full
online banking replacement due by mid
2016. These were aggressive timelines
by NBAD standards, but by leveraging
key strategic partners and introducing
agile and iterative development processes
we were able to launch the new Mobile
Banking system in less than 18 months
from initiation which sits alongside our
international competitors for delivery
timescales.
The Cash Management platform was
deployed at the end of Q1 2015 and has
had subsequent regular updates to offer
further services on a quarterly basis. The
Egypt Core Banking system replacement
was completed in Q4 2014.
What would you say is
particularly innovative about
this project?
In the digital space, and particularly with
mobile, we focused our attention heavily
on the design and usability aspects rather
than developing “me too” functionality
based on competitor products. In our
view, many mobile banking applications
have become overly complex by trying
to offer content over usability. We have
focused our Mobile Banking applications
on the key transactional areas of
payments, transaction execution, and
balance/transaction reporting that our
clients require.
Over time – and based on customer
feedback – we will introduce selective
sales and advisory components but not at
the expense of usability. Mobile banking
should be easy and convenient and that
is where we will continue to focus. All
of the bank’s products and services are
or soon will be available through digital
channels, but the user experience will
be tailored depending on segment and
channel.
There is a general perception
among most CIOs that IT is not
adequately heard in top-level
executive management talks.
What do you think about this
school of thought?
All topics brought to the Executive
management of the bank need to be
relevant to that level of seniority. Like all
Banks and large organisations there is
a tremendous amount of competition
to get attention on key topics at the
top levels and opportunities for key
discussions need to be used as effectively
as possible.
In order to get top level executive
attention for technology it is always a
good idea to ensure that the technology
aspects are linked wherever possible to real
business issues and topics so that those
around the table who are not necessarily
technically oriented can link the topics
being discussed to their own areas.
A number of times recently we have
linked with other areas of the bank to
“ALL OF THE BANK’S PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
ARE OR SOON WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH
DIGITAL CHANNELS, BUT THE USER EXPER QS