Non-Interest Income Reaches P1.2 Billion
GAZETTE REPORTER
As a result of vigour in digital banking amongst others, First National Bank Botswana’s Non-Interest Income grew by 11 percent to record P1.2 billion for the year ended 30 June 2020.
Despite transactional fees, other major revenue sources, which contribute almost half of total non-interest revenue, are foreign exchange trading revenue, Insurance commission as well as card commission revenue (including Merchant services).
“This was supported by increased volumes across the bank’s digital and electronic channels but most noticeably in merchant transactions,” said the CEO of the bank, Steven Bogatsu, in the financials. “Both transactional volumes and values increased due to the improved connectivity on our digital channels, as well as the FNB App not requiring user data to access it across all networks.
“FNBB broadened its financial inclusion by launching a new channel called Cash Plus which brings services to more remote locations and offers further convenience to our customers.”
FNBB is strong in digital transactions – cellphone and Internet banking products.
Meanwhile, Bogatsu has attributed the bank’s success over the years to its forward-thinking approach to technology and innovation that he says will remain a central focus going forward. “The majority of the bank’s workforce has been enabled to work remotely with a view to long-term flexible working arrangements,” he notes in the report. “This strategy also facilitated the rapid introduction of responsible social distancing practices in line with the COVID-19 protocols.”
According to Bogatsu, there has been a welcome synergy in the form of acceleration of FNBB’s customers’ journey into digital banking. “The FNB APP and Online Banking registrations grew notably, with clients being further empowered to serve themselves in the form of convenient, value-added services,” he says.
“Cyber security remains paramount, given the technological uptake in the market and the bank has invested significant resources in this area to provide safe platforms for customers to transact on. FNBB will continue to invest in the consumer payments ecosystem with the roll-out of further POS devices and contactless cards, as well as further investment in the POS infrastructure.”