Absa gearing up to respond to client needs in transactional banking

Absa Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) says it is stepping up its capabilities in transactional banking to respond to ever-changing client needs. Yasmin Masithela, managing executive for transactional banking, says clients no longer want generic products, they are expecting customised solutions that are customer-centric and flexible to their needs. 

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“Clients are looking for solutions that allow them to transact seamlessly across regions: they are looking for efficient, scalable, secure and innovative solutions. We have seen a trend of clients who want plug-and-play solutions that are enabled through technologies such as application programming interfaces, minimising the development of intensive integration,” she says. 

“This includes enabling our online channels to allow clients to transact directly from our online platforms. This has a significant impact on the integration cost reduction and operational efficiencies and embraces the best of breed technology,” says Masithela. 

Absa currently offers cash management solutions, which help clients collect and make payments securely and efficiently, across geographies.  In some cases where clients experience funding gaps, the bank can assist them by providing them with trade and working capital finance and other risk mitigating solutions.

In addition, Absa offers international trade- and foreign-exchange propositions in its transactional banking suites.  

“We also strive to enable clients to manage their liquidity effectively and ensure there is always sufficient cash available for them to get business done. These services are enabled through our online banking platforms which we are building and enhancing, as well as our host-to-host solutions which are existent,” she says. 

Absa also provides multi-product solutions tailored to the current business needs of its clients and will be focusing more on anticipating what their future needs might be as they expand. This means continuing to invest and innovate the transactional banking offering, which will result in the bank providing an even more highly personalised service with insights into the specific sectors it operates in. 

Masithela says Absa has invested significant resources into building a superior digital experience for hyper-connected banking across multiple channels. This includes its current focus on end-to-end process automation and integration to digitally transform customer journeys and reduce process complexity.  

“Because of our pan-African presence and our experience as a leading financial services provider on the continent, we also have the benefit of a unique understanding of the diverse transactional needs of our clients in different environments.”

Masithela says in line with CIB’s pan-African growth strategy, the bank will introduce new solutions to further strengthen its transactional banking capabilities. 

“In this respect, we are introducing new propositions in the next few months which will help our focus on growth. We will be landing our single sign on portal — Absa access that will allow clients to transact in one place in their digital framework of choice be it, online, mobile or through a host platform and finally through application programming interfaces (APIs) in a safe environment.

“We want to offer our clients propositions that are simplified and seamless. We are focused on creating a great experience for our clients, across our transactional offerings, and truly enabling our clients to grow their business through the use of our platforms."

This article was paid for by Absa Corporate and Investment Banking.