Commercial banks urged to improve services
Boitshepo Majube | Tuesday April 1, 2014 11:06
Speaking at the official opening of the Barclays airport junction branch, Matambo said with increased diamond trading activities, Gaborone is gradually turning into a destination for international diamond dealers. “As new downstream industries open, the role of the banking sector is more critical than ever to support development of Botswana’s diamond industry,” he said.
Matambo said whilst the new requirements of the market continue to be investment in technological innovations, some areas of technology cannot replace human relationships.
“As such, I implore you to do more to improve how you interact with your customers,” Matambo advised. He said this is especially critical for people who are at the forefront of providing of banking services such as tellers, customer inquiries staff and security personnel.
He explained that these are the first faces Botswana customers from around the world see when they visit local banks.
“It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to ensure that indeed, our bank branches are in a desirable state to receive customers. I hope the opening of this state of the art branch is a statement that you, as Barclays Bank of Botswana, are ready to rise to the challenge,” he said.
Matambo stated that Botswana’s banking sector’s strength and vibrancy are largely due to a rigorous regulatory framework and sound leadership that has managed to keep its eyes on the ball all the time.
“For our banking environment to continue to enjoy the international respect it does, we are all required to be vigilant.”
He said as a bank, Barclays operates on the basis of trust, and thus challenged to grow its business and take risks without compromising the reputation it has built over the years.
The minister added that as the experience of large financial institutions in Europe and the United States has shown, it only takes a few rogue elements to compromise an entire industry. Matambo pointed out that as the country continues the drive to attract foreign direct investment, one of the fundamental factors that potential investors will always consider before committing their resources here, is reliability of the banking system.
From a single agency, today Barclays Bank of Botswana employs over 1,200 people and services customers across the country through a network of 116 ATMs and 43 outlets. Barclays Managing Director, Reinette Van Der Merwe stated that the airport junction branch is a 3-in-1, the second of its kind after the Game City branch opened a year ago.
“Inside this model bank there are three branches, the standard branch catering for the mass market, the prestige section catering for the emerging affluent and last but not least the premier suite which caters for the affluent segment,” Van Der Merwe revealed.
She said Barclays caters for the un-banked through their group savings Motshelo account and through their ATMs where they have recently launched a very convenient solution for them (Cash Send).
“This offering allows our customers to transfer any cash amount up to P4,000 pula per day to anyone in Botswana whether they have a bank or not,” she said, adding that they have seen customers transferring money from remote areas of the country.