Nigeria Update: ‘Banking industry remains viable despite emergence of Fintech’
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As technology continues to impact activities in the country’s financial space, the Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Kola Abdul, has said the changes in the industry will not affect the viability of banks.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the upcoming 2018 Lagos Bankers and Stakeholders Nite, Abdul said banks would still be doing business, except that the way it is done would be different.
Abdul stated that contrary to the beliefs that fintech would take over traditional banking roles, fintechs will only change the dynamics of jobs and skills set in the banking industry.
He explained that the changing dynamics of the banking system occasioned by innovation by fintech had prompted the theme for this year’s Bankers and Stakeholders Nite.
The banker revealed that one of the important objectives of his chapter is to replace the existing secretariat complex with a structure that edifies the organisation’s status.
“We will be selling some of the floors to financial institutions to have their name written in the sand of time because when the bank decides to put its name in an institute structure, it goes beyond that bank.
“We are hoping to have a five storey building with an underground elevated parking space and five floors.
The branch would only use one of the floors and all the other floors are to be sold out to institutions so we are working assiduously to make sure we raise N525 million as of today”, he said.
General Secretary, CIBN Lagos Branch, Layo Adekanye, said it does not appear that technology would render people in the sector redundant, saying what matters most is that every now and then the economy is creating employment.
“Today, people who are skilled in information technology are those who have the upper hands when it comes to availability of jobs.
Also, Chairman of the organising committee of the Lagos Bankers and Stakeholders night, Tunde Popoola, said the event would focus on the intellectual disposition and the happenings in the banking industry.
Meanwhile, the founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Computer Warehouse Group, Austin Okere, has been slated for guest speaking.
Also expected at the event are the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode; the President and Chairman of Council of the CIBN, Dr. Uche Olowu; founder and Director, Bridge House College, Mrs. Foluke Abdul-rasa, among others.
The 2018 edition scheduled to hold at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on July 12, 2018, is themed: “Big Data, Fintech and the Future of Banking.”
The institute will also be recognizing the role of individuals and corporates to the growth of the financial system as well as a fundraising for its proposed new building.
