AFTER ZB Financial Holdings (ZBFH) emerged second runner-up in the corporate social investment (CSI) and sponsorship category at the inaugural Monthly Financial Sector Bulletin (MFSB) Innovation Awards, Shadowsight Kumbirai Chiganze (SKC), ZBFH’s head of group corporate services spoke to NewsDay’s financial columnist Omen N Muza (ONM) about the diversified financial services group’s philosophy as well as its challenges and opportunities in the CSI space.
Financial Sector Spotlight with Omen Muza
Chiganze spoke about the group’s past, present and future product development situation. Below are excerpts of the interview that first appeared in the MFSB.
ONM: What is ZB Financial Holdings’ philosophy for CSI and sponsorship that has seen it becoming one of the most responsible corporate citizens in the financial services sector? SKC: We believe that no institution is an island, meaning that we operate in a community with our current and potential customers. Accordingly, it is our responsibility to support this community.
ONM: Most of your sponsorship initiatives in 2014 appeared to have been biased towards corporate governance issues. Is this a coincidence or corporate governance is a deliberate focus area of the group?
SKC: No, not at all. We did not actually have a bias towards corporate governance issues. In our support for the community, ZB would want to support national agendas such as ZimAsset and the Millennium Developmental Goals which are part and parcel of the success of our organisation.
ONM: What can stakeholders expect from ZB in 2015 in terms of CSI and sponsorship initiatives? SKC: The major focus areas for 2015 are that we will support education in our communities and pay school fees for a number of students from Form 1 up to Form 4. We will be supporting the health sector through the malaria project. ZB will continue to support schools in the various communities to develop their areas as well as improve the quality of education. ONM: What are ZB’s challenges and opportunities in terms of CSI? SKC: As ZB we would like to do a lot more. Resources are, however, limited in comparison to the many challenges that are in our communities. We take this opportunity to appeal to other organisations and individuals to also play a part. ONM: How competitive is the product innovation situation in the financial services sector and how is ZB Bank maintaining an edge over its competitors in such an environment? SKC: The financial services environment is very competitive and the products are homogenous and differentiated through customer service excellence. At ZB, we pride ourselves in leveraging on latest technologies and giving our customers the best experience when they do business with us. ONM: What aspects of evolving customer tastes/preferences keep challenging the bank’s product development capabilities? SKC: We are certainly moving in the right direction as we have crafted strategies and projects that we will be rolling out in 2015 and subsequent periods. Product innovation requires that we invest in appropriate supporting technology platforms and we are doing just that. ONM: The year 2014 was probably not one of the brightest in terms of new product development as the group appeared to focus more on restructuring and repositioning itself for the future. What can we expect in 2015 in terms of product innovation? SKC: In 2014, ZB pursued both revenue growth and cost containment strategies. We were front-runners in the selling and distribution of prepaid electricity through our branches, agents and mobile platform. We currently command the biggest market share and are excited that we surpassed the revenue targets. We continue to expand the number of agents and are adding more products in the process. We have also invested in a state-of-the-art card management system and will soon be rolling out new products. ONM: Is financial inclusion an important consideration of ZB Bank’s product development process? SKC: Yes, it is. ZB is already in most of the hitherto unbanked areas in Zimbabwe such as Checheche, Mwenezana, Colleen Bawn, Glen View, and Gazaland. We have brought to these communities the ZB Informal Trader Account which offers free banking with minimal charges. In October 2014 we launched the ZB Agency banking model and we now have in excess of 1 500 agents trading on our e-wallet platform throughout the country.
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