Marian Amartey, the Head of Business Enablement at Stanbic Bank Ghana, has urged banks to collaborate with FinTechs to succeed in the digital era as technology continues to revolutionize individual’s way of life.

Marian Amartey, speaking at ‘The Money Summit‘ on the future of financial institutions, highlighted that instead of competing, the time has come for banks and FinTechs to work together to produce better solutions to satisfy the demands of customers.

“As an industry, you cannot stay stagnant while the world around you continues to evolve. We must be agile and adopt new trends in technology to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. At Stanbic Bank, we are interested in exploring all the exciting opportunities that technology has, in delivering better services.”
Marian Amartey

According to the Stanbic Business Head, technology continues to affect the way humans behave, the needs of banks’ clients also evolve and change along with the new developments in technology.

“It has therefore become necessary that we as banks work together with FinTechs to combine our strengths and deliver the best solutions for customers.”
Marian Amartey

Banks in Ghana 1 — Logo of some banks in Ghana

Mrs. Amartey disclosed that Stanbic Bank Ghana was engaging with FinTechs along the value chain, particularly those specializing in crucial sectors such as credit and lending, in order to engage with them to deliver value to its clients.

“As a bank, we strongly believe in driving national growth by supporting small businesses and giving them a chance to grow. Therefore, at the Stanbic Incubator, which supports businesses to grow, one area the bank is looking to enhance is to provide local FinTechs with the right skills they need to grow and give them the space to innovate and grow.”
Marian Amartey

Banks Urged To Remain Alert In Fintech Partnership

Despite encouraging banks to partner with Fintechs to promote good works in the banking sector, Marian Amartey advised banks to be vigilant and focus on key areas needed to be looked out for and monitored, in ensuring that the partnership is valuable.

According to her, for banks to form meaningful partnerships, they must consider factors such as unforeseen risk. Risk in terms of strategy, compliance, and cyber, she said, are critical considerations when working together to carry out a certain solution; otherwise, breaches will occur.

“Even though this partnership is necessary we need to make sure that we do not end up becoming over-reliant on technology. We don’t want to get to a point where the bank becomes a back-end supplier rather than acknowledging that there is a collective effort between both parties to deliver the right solutions to clients.
“It is important to keep an open mind and explore all the necessary areas around partnerships and investments. We need to be aligned on what we want to achieve the desired results.”
Marian Amartey

The Money Summit brought together stakeholders from diverse sectors to discuss strategies for overcoming obstacles and capitalizing on opportunities in the financial sector. Collaboration among governments, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, private sector entities, and civil society was underlined as critical for establishing a strong financial system that fosters long-term economic progress.