Bank clients embrace digital

Since First National Bank started its drive in 2015 to transfer more and more services to a digital platform, online banking is up by 11%, ATM usage by 14%, cellphone banking by 18%, speedpoint usage by 21% and the use of eWallets by a whopping 48%.
“Our clients are moving more and more to electronic service offerings, making use of ATMs, online banking, cellphone banking and the FNB app. These channels of self-service delivery enable our customers to do their banking 24/7, in the comfort of their home at a lower cost ensuring the creation of value through cost savings as well as ease of use and transacting” said Sarel van Zyl, the CEO of FNB Namibia Holdings.
Statistics from the group’s most recent annual report shows that its bricks to clicks strategy is working well. Van Zyl stated that the bank is delighted with the uptake of the electronic options which are less expensive, safer and convenient. “We have seen a decrease of branch transactions from 7,9 million in 2015 to 7,8 million in the last financial year and this to us is good news as it means our electronic options are becoming the norm.” Not only is this significant because it reduces the queues in our branches, but it also reduces the cost of banking to our clients as our electronic transactions are significantly cheaper than the traditional branch transactions.”
The annual report recorded a 11% growth in online banking from 11.7 million transactions to 13.4 million in 2016; a 14 % increase of ATM usage from 24,6 million in 2015 to 27,8 million in 2016. Cellphone banking has increased by 18% while the two electronic forerunners are point of sale purchases (Speedpoints) and eWallets which increased with 21% and 48% respectively. “In 2015 we recorded N$4,5 billion transaction values transacted over Speedpoints versus N$ 5,7 billion in 2016. Noteworthy is the N$2 billion worth of eWallets sent in 2015 compared to N$3,1 billion in 2016. We encourage our customers to continue this trend as it is the safest, most convenient, most affordable and quickest way to bank” said van Zyl.