Bring together a panel of leading local and international Digital Banking experts and regulators, to discuss about the digitalisation of the banking sector in Mauritius. This was the goal set by KPMG, for its Conference on Digital Banking #TheNewNormal, which was held on Wednesday 5 April, 2017 at Hennessy Park Hotel. Some 90 attendees, mainly from the financial sector, attended this highly interactive Conference.

According to Mr Naresh Bhoola, Partner, Financial Services, KPMG, “Digitalization is becoming #ThenewNormal for the banking industry worldwide.” He referred to the KPMG Banking Industry Outlook Survey 2016, which reports that “Banks willing to seize the opportunity to become innovators of new products and services by embracing disruptive technologies and transformative forces will be better positioned to reach growth target’. He highlighted that “this demonstrates that a key success factor for banks, resides in the ability to fully integrate digital into their business”. Naresh further stated that “At KPMG, we believe that the future of banking, lies in being truly digital. Today’s event forms part of the strategy that KPMG pursues to bring innovative solutions to our clients and inspire confidence in their strategies and empower change.”

Ms Aneessa Mungroo, Associate Director, KPMG, highlighted that “Digital disruption is gradually changing the way banking has been done in the past decades. Global trends are moving towards “branchless banking” and are using innovative technology. Banks are adopting digitalisation from back-end operations to client facing services”.

She stated that “The local banking system has already embraced Digital Banking through the internet banking services that are proposed by 70% of banks in Mauritius. In fact the last three years have seen the most significant change in the service offering with the launch of mobile banking in 2013 and the increasing use of mobile payments. Customer behaviours have changed and their expectations are rising. If we follow global trends, technology push and customer experience are driving the digital change.”

She concluded by declaring that “Digital Strategy in fact cannot operate in a vacuum and needs to be inter-linked to the company’s business strategy. The company first needs to identify what it wants to achieve: is it client outreach, new market, new services, customer retention, change the image? Digital Banking should be client focused, simple and technology should not the sole driver.”

Speakers also shared their views on international trends and case studies in Digital Banking in Mauritius, Africa and India. Mrs Sadiya Hossen, Head of Projects and Business Analysis at MCB, shared the experience of the MCB in the implementation of Juice in Mauritius in 2013. Mr Nvalaye Kourouma, Chief Digital Officer, from Barclays Retail and Business Banking, Rest of Africa, gave an overview of the trends in Digital Banking in Africa.

The conference featured a KPMG expert on Digital Banking, Mr Harsh Bisht, Partner, Management Consulting, Business Performance Services (BPS), Strategy & Operations, KPMG India, to share some case studies from India. Harsh brings over more than 20 years of work experience in ‘hands on’ business transformation with banks and financial institutions in India.

Harsh reported that “India has seen a huge surge in digital, with over 70% of all banking transactions being done through internet & mobile”. According to him “Mobile and Smartphone penetration are the key drivers of Digital Banking and Mauritius has the right infrastructure to grow Digital Banking significantly.” In his opinion, “Digital Banking will help Mauritius move to a ‘Cashless Economy’. Proven Innovative models like usage of QR codes & Biometrics help drive the cashless economy. Digital Banking can also help the banks grow their Revenues significantly by targeting specific like SMEs and High Network Individuals.”  He concluded by stating that “Digital Banking is 24 x 7 x 365 days banking with the bank residing in the customer’s pocket.”

A very interactive Panel Discussion on the opportunities and challenges for Mauritius then followed and was moderated by Harsh. The panellists were:

• Mr Jean-Philippe Bersier - Director – Business Development, ERI Bancaire SA

• Mr Nvalaye Kourouma, Chief Digital Officer, from Barclays Retail and Business Banking, Rest of Africa

• Mrs Stephanie Ng Tseung, Head of Marketing, MCB

• Mr Vikash Thakoor, Assistant Director, Payments and Settlement Systems and MCIB Division, Bank of Mauritius

The main debate centred on the digital readiness of Mauritius in terms of infrastructure, usage and affordability and on the opportunities and challenges to implement Digital Banking. It was highlighted that Mauritius is very well placed in terms of infrastructure, usage of internet and technology and affordability of digital devices, and it is up to each bank to define its own strategy on the way forward.

As a concluding remark Mr Huns Biltoo, Partner, Head of Advisory, KPMG, stated that “disruption is now normality. We are living in an age where we have to learn, unlearn and relearn.” He further declared that “On behalf of KPMG, we would like to reiterate that we are committed to stay close to challenges and issues faced by our clients and within the business community at large and it is with this mind-set that we brought this topic to a table of experts, to discuss about issues pertaining to Digital Banking.”

Read more in the media

• Harsh Bisht, Partner chez KPMG India – Le Défi Quotidien 12 April 2017

• CONFÉRENCE KPMG : Vers un développement accru du numérique à Maurice – Le Mauricien 10 April 2017

• Digitalisation: #TheNewNormal for the Banking Sector – Orange.mu 10 April 2017

• Conférence : La numérisation du secteur bancaire « trop lente » selon un expert indien – L’Express 10 April 2017

• [Vidéo] Le projet de plateforme nationale pour les paiements électroniques démarre en mai – Ion News 5 April 2017