Can you tell me a bit about your background and your current role?
My name is Olubunmi Fabanwo. I live and work in Nigeria. I have 5 years of experience working in Banking. Currently, I work in Platinum Support with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. (GTBank)- improving products and providing service for a specific band of customers by using CRM and analytics.
Previously, I was Retail Relationship Manager with GTBank, where I managed two retail teams, analyzing budgets, expenses, revenues and product deficiencies in order to provide recommendations for constant business growth.
I am passionate about subjects like Financial Technology, Blockchain and the future of work. I possess competencies in Sales, Customer service, Retail marketing, Research, Blockchain applications, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, XP.
How does the fintech market look like in your country?
The Fintech market in Nigeria has witnessed so much buzz in the last few years, as it has disrupted and challenged the traditional means of providing financial services in Nigeria. The Nigerian FinTech ecosystem comprises of over 250 FinTechs, with investment of over $300m since 2014. The market is majorly made up of Digital Retail Payment, Lending and Payment Infrastructure firms. Mobile phone penetration and increasing e-commerce activities are some of the key drivers of growth of this market in Nigeria over the years.
Can you tell us more about Fintech and its importance today?
Fintech is about major changes to asset management, business and personal loans, fund raising, money transfers, and the way we invest. Fintech involves disrupting the way all businesses operate, as well as our personal finances. The importance of Fintech in our world today cannot be overemphasized, as it has made financial services more accessible. Statistics have proven that the adoption of Fintech services increased from 16% in 2015 to 78% in 2020, and this confirms that Fintech not only helps the economy grow but has established new successful careers in the industry.
How would you describe the transformation taking place in the financial sector?
The digital transformation in theb= finance space has been very impactful to say the least. New entrants are purely built on innovation, with the aim of both enhancing and disrupting the industry. Considering how the sector has transformed over the years, one will understand how digital transformation has grown to benefit everyone with convenience. From simple branch offices to ATMs and mobile apps, this transformation has offered greater convenience, choice, and experience. Today, our customers are gravitating towards digital experiences and products.
Also, previously, financial institutions hardly imagined their workforce working remotely. But, the COVID-19 pandemic forced financial services companies to build a remote work model, and this transition has been successful due to digital disruption and transformation of financial services. Many financial establishments are even committed to making the remote working model permanent.
How can fintechs overcome the challenges of building in the cloud?
Cloud technology has evolved the finance sector into much more flexible and agile business models and provided us with benefits like data management opportunities, reduced operational cost, automated analysis systems, business continuity, scalability, and overall improvements to business efficiency. However, this technology has also introduced new challenges around data security and cybercrime. There are so many cybercrime solutions that Fintech industries follow, but the Blockchain technology is able to control this challenge. Currently, Blockchain is one of the most secure data protection technologies. Organizations need to secure their data by implementing strong authentication and cryptography key vaulting mechanisms. Blockchain technology is functioning enough to address the challenge of how to secure the data and prevent malicious cyber-attacks.
What do you think is the future of the Fintech industry?
I believe that we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what is possible and likely to happen in the next few years in this space. More service providers with start to adopt technologies like blockchain, AI and more Fintech applications in their business models to win tomorrow’s consumers.
In addition, the Fintech industry will move beyond facilitating only core financial transactions to financing healthcare, education, insurance, asset acquisition, and other basic consumer needs.
