Richard Amafonye is the Chief Information Officer of Skye Bank Plc. In this interview with  JONAH NWOKPOKU on the recent introduction of the Skye Plus, an internet banking platform by the bank, he argues that the cashless policy is designed to drive electronic business and that banks need to retool in order to remain relevant in the face of increasing digitaisation of payments. Excerpts:

What is Skye Plus all about and what motivated your renewed drive for online banking?
Let me start by saying that what we are deploying now has been as a result of a major information technology transformation initiative that we started about two years ago. You know that Skye Bank is a merger of five banks and you understand what necessitated the merger. It was regulatory induced, so we quickly came together and had to couple our systems together in order to get to the market quick enough because the completion didn’t give us any opportunity to take our time to do that.  After five years of that merger, we felt that it was time for us to take one step back in order to accelerate, so we decided to put a pause to all of our investments in technology to be able to appreciate where exactly the bank is going. We wanted to know exactly where our strategic aims lie and how to leverage technology to achieve those strategic aims.

We went to the business segment of the bank and asked them what their expectations from IT are, in relation to where the bank was headed to. So based on the business strategic objectives of the bank, we did a business requirement gaps analysis, looking at our current IT deployment infrastructure then and then the requirements and expectations for the future. So based on the gaps, we came up with ten initiatives that we needed to execute in order to move from where we are to where we want to be. But we know that ten initiatives are too many, so we decided to execute around priorities. So, we identified three core driver projects that we needed to execute on.

The very first one was the data centre remodeling. This is because change starts from the data centre and we needed to rebuild the data centre. The second project is network security and optimization. The third project is the overhaul of our core banking system or the implementation of a new core banking system. So these were three projects that we decided that we needed to quickly execute on. So, we have a world class data centre that we have built on and we have also deployed a new network that is fully redundant to provide us maximum availability. This is because if you are asking your customers to use your debit card, ATM and to do internet banking, one major challenge that you will face is system availability.

But then the core banking system underpins nearly 90 percent of our operations. We were on Oracle Flexcube Core Banking System 6.2 but the latest from the Oracle stable in universal banking is version 12.0. So we needed to upgrade from version 6.2 to 12.0.

That was what we recently cut over to. We did that a month ago and having stabilized on the core banking system we decided to unveil our new ‘Skye Plus’ which is a direct banking platform comprising the internet and mobile banking.

How does Skye Plus position you for the cashless policy that is kicking off nationwide by July?  
The cashless movement is more or less about alternate channels. It’s all about do-it-yourself and that is what e-commerce is all about. Rather than coming to the banking halls, we have provided customers alternate channels through which they can transact. And I can tell you one thing, trust is a major factor here. No matter what we do, and no matter how sophisticated our offerings are, if our platforms are not reliable and they do not work most of the time, such that customers will have the confidence that they will use their cards wherever they are, and any time, until we are able to guarantee that the systems will be available all of the time, all of the technologies and the implementation back office will amount to nothing. So that is the more reason why we started with our data centre and networks, to ensure that the back office is solid to provide us that platform to deliver services all of the time. If you are guaranteed that anytime you go to the ATM you are able to get your cash, then you will not have that need to withdraw all your money at once and keep them at home. If you are sure that when you travel abroad, your debit card will work on every PoS, you will not want to carry dollars, or travelers’ cheque.

It is even no longer fashionable now to carry dollars. People prefer to carry their cards. If you are sure that if you want to make that payment that you will log on to the internet, into the banking platform of your bank, and you are able to transfer that fund, there will be no need to begin to issue cheques for people to take to the bank. So availability is very key. We know we‘ve got infrastructural challenges but things are being dealt with gradually. And that is why we have sufficient redundancy to ensure that when one goes down, another will pick. This is because availability is one of the major challenges that will either make or mar the cashless society. That is why we have taken the time to build our infrastructure to ensure that our services are available at a greater percentage of the time. In addition, we are launching the internet and mobile banking that will give the customers the opportunity to transact across multiple channels.

Internet banking is not new in Nigeria, what makes Skye Plus different?  
Bill Gates made an assertion sometime in 2008. He said that, “banking is important but banks are not.” It was controversial then but Bill Gates could see into the future because, as far back as 2000, we have started to see improve in digitization of payments and the process of delivering payments. If you digitize payments, it simply means you are doing away with the intermediaries, the banks. When you digitize payments, the role of the intermediaries becomes challenged. That was what Bill Gates saw many years and made that assertion.
Technology has brought about extraordinary changes in people’s lives. Think of Facebook, Instant Messaging, mobile phones, what these offer are instant access to whatever anyone wants. So we now live in a culture where people get things they want right away. Some people call it the microwave society, in order words; we have become accustomed or programmed for immediate gratification. So what’s now happening is that individuals extend this new behaviour to various areas and expect similar experience as customers interacting with banks. Customers are very demanding and they are very impatient. So the only way you can meet their expectations today is for you to also offer platforms that convenience of anywhere and everywhere banking and across multiple channels. And that is exactly what our Skye Plus sought to achieve. It’s our direct banking platform that comprises internet and mobile banking and what we are promising our customers is that whatever they can do in the banking hall, they will be able to do the same through our internet and mobile banking platforms. We are pushing the same service across multiple channels.

What do you think is the future of banking in the face of increasing payment digitisation?
Banks need to reinvent in order to remain relevant in the scheme of things. In the first world countries, we are beginning to see retailers, fish in ponds that were predominantly the exclusive preserve of banks. We are beginning to see retailers begin to offer credit faculties, cash back facilities. Even locally, I saw an ad by some Telcos offering some form of credit. For instance, if you run out of credit, you get a credit and when recharge they will deduct it and charge you some premium. Now imagine if CBN lifts some restrictions on money transfer services and allow Telcos to also play in this field, they will begin to compete with banks for money transfer services. So banks must begin to offer additional values.