Skye Bank Repositions to Deepen Market Penetration

Promoters of the Skye Bank brand have stated that their decision to extend the frontier of the bank offering through the recently launched digital banking solution called Skyexperience was to give the banking public exciting experience.

According to the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, the product, which was developed in collaboration with Oracle Corporation, a leading computer technology company, was introduced to grow customer enrolment by over 2 million in 17 months as well as offering customers seamless Omni-channel experience.

Meanwhile, financial technology experts have described the new solution as a game-changing innovation that is poised to put industry competitors in the digital catch-up mode.

Skyexperience is a robust platform designed to deliver Omni-channel user experience across multiple devices as well as boost its digital competitiveness objective which is projected to grow Skye Bank’s e-payment enabled customer base to over 2 million by end of 2018.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of Skye Bank, Mr. Mohammad Ahmad described the launch of Skyexperience as “a timely intervention in the banking industry and a modest contribution towards the economic development of Nigeria, especially in the area of financial technology and digital evolution”.

The Chairman also thanked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for leading the way to the future through its e-payment System Vision (PSV 2020). The vision is expected to ensure that majority of Nigerians irrespective of their social status embrace e-channels as a primary and convenient means of their daily transactions.

Abiru said the development was a display of the bank’s commitment to its valued customers who have continued to not only do business with the bank, but also challenged it on how best to serve them. In the words of the GMD, “As a pledge of commitment to a new service charter with our customers, we have decided to render to you this digital banking solution, which we have called Skyexperience denoting such positive values as: experience, excellence, excitement and experiential.”

In a statement released by the Senior Vice President, Oracle Financial Services Chet Kamat heralding the launch of Skyexperiance, he stated: “In a dynamic digital landscape, banks need to compete for customer attention by continuous innovation. Oracle and Skye Bank have been associated with each other for over a decade. Oracle’s solution, Oracle Banking Digital Experience, built on open standards architecture helps drive a digital-first proposition, accelerating Skye Bank’s digital journey and delivering greater flexibility and mobility to their customers.”

The Chief Information Officer (CIO), Skye Bank Mr. Richard Amafonye described Skyexperience as “a new and unique Omni-channel digital banking solution, which is a response to shifts in customer behaviour and preferences. It is one of the results of our long standing work with Oracle on our strategic technology re-platforming initiative”.

Jost Hoppermann, a UK based Technology Consultant and former Director of Architecture, DG Bank – the 3rd largest Bank in Germany, in one of his presentations on innovative banking software, listed among others, the differentiators of Omni-channel banking solutions to include: customer experience and business capabilities delivery, noting that solutions with multiple differentiators are best suited to help banks win, serve, and retain customers.
Payments through electronic channels are fast gaining traction in Nigeria. This is evident in the statistics of volume and value of transactions that have been done through the channels in recent times.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total value of electronic payment transactions in the banking system stood at N65 trillion in 2016, whilst the total volume of electronic payment transactions was put at 910,186,115 transactions in the same period.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) notes that attaining the e-Payment System Vision 2020 (PSV 2020) would be the catalyst to revolutionize the payment system in Nigeria.

The key value proposition of Skyexperience is that its Omni-channel capability helps to simplify service delivery and personalize customer experience. It enables enhanced security of transaction and empowers customer self-service. Using the Skyexperience, customers can now perform such transactions as: setting up standing transfer instructions to family members, transferring money to distant relations or business partners, opening of new accounts and requesting for and stopping of debit cards. They can also conveniently view and monitor all their accounts activities simultaneously.

Customers of the bank who attended the unveiling ceremony noted that Skyexperience will further support Skye Bank’s branch footprint across the country, as customers especially SMEs can now make hassle-free transactions across distant locations.