Ecobank, UBA Others Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud, AI for Digital Innovation

Ecobank, UBA Others Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud, AI for Digital Innovation

Ecobank, United Bank of Africa (UBA) Plc among other African bellwether banks have turned to International Business Machines (IBM) hybrid cloud, AI solutions to accelerate digital innovation, the company said in a statement.

According to the statement, financial institutions across Africa have selected hybrid cloud and AI capabilities from IBM to unlock digital innovation and continue their work to develop digital-first solutions, ultimately aiming to broaden access to financial services on the continent.

“COVID-19 continues to accelerate the already rapid changes that were happening across the financial services sector in Africa, fast-tracking the adoption of digital technologies to boost financial inclusion.

“As banks focus their efforts on open innovation, security and high-value services, hybrid cloud solutions have become increasingly important to deliver seamless and secured digital banking experiences”.

Income from e-banking is a new oil for Nigerian banks due to declining net interest margin driven by the central bank dovish stance. Interest yielding assets have seen generally lower margins as the yield on fixed income instruments tumble to an all-time low.

IBM said Ecobank, the pan-African banking conglomerate with banking operations in 33 African countries, has adopted a hybrid cloud approach to extend its reach to millions across Africa.

“Using IBM Cloud, Ecobank migrated their mobile banking application to leverage the on-demand capacity of resources that can support sudden spikes in traffic on its mobile banking services.

“Ecobank also has access to other IBM cloud services that can be used to develop more innovative, digital-first solutions to enhance their own client experience”, it said.

Also, Attijariwafa bank, the Pan African Banking and Financial Group, was also mentioned among banks that have adopted IBM hybrid cloud solutions.

IBM relates the move to help advance the digitisation of its banking operations, and more quickly bring new digital services to its customers, all in a security-rich and flexible environment.

“Using IBM Cloud Paks that are built on Red Hat OpenShift, the bank can streamline and integrate front-and back-office processes to modernise business and IT operations”.

IBM also noted that United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Africa’s global bank operating in 23 countries and with headquarters in Nigeria, has set a goal to grow its transaction volume significantly over the next few years and to deepen the retail market penetration.

To achieve this, it added that they would be required to attract the unbanked, acquire new customers through digital banking and retain existing customers by adopting a “No Transaction Must Fail (NTMF)” initiative.