UK lender has racked up more than £2.7bn of cumulative losses over past five years
Absa Bank Mauritius drives cash management proposition through strong channel capabilities
- Driving business performance with a strict focus on bottomline and ‘pan-Africa regionalisation’ strategy
- Integrate solutions via H2H and SWIFT
- Nearly 100% of manual operations were converted to e-channels
Singapore, 30 November 2021 –Absa Bank Mauritius (Absa Mauritius) was recognised as Best Cash Management Bank in Mauritius at The Asian Banker MEA Transaction Finance and Risk Management Awards 2021.
Absa Mauritius and AfrAsia Bank were the finalists for Best Cash Management Bank in Mauritius. Absa Mauritius emerged top for its wider client coverage in Africa and digital cash management solutions for the specific requirements of customers.
Business Strategy: Driving business performance with a strict focus on bottomline and ‘pan-Africa regionalisation’ strategy
Absa Mauritius switched to a more fee-based growth source, mainly driven by the increase in income from the volume of digital transactions. The bank’s performance was boosted by automated compliance, practices and cost efficiencies through streamlined operations.
The bank continues its business expansion and builds its ‘gateway to Africa’ strategy by leveraging international hub status to drive cash flows in and out of Africa. The bank leverages Mauritius as an international hub that acts as a conduit between African banks, business partners and customers.
The bank expanded its customer base network from 12 countries to over 27 nations across Africa, following the cooperation with Societe Generale across trade finance and cash management. The bank acquired Société Générale’s custody, trustee and clearing services business in South Africa to tap fresh opportunities and expand to better serve its domestic and international customers.
AfrAsia Bank focused on growing its balance sheet, capturing a higher wallet share across its client base and diversifying products and services to build a more durable sources of revenues. It capitalised on South African corporates which are anticipated to embrace a growing appetite for international exposure.
Channel, Product and Service Capabilities and Business Mandates: Integrate solutions via H2H and SWIFT
Absa Mauritius optimised its cash management using electronic channels such as host-to-host (H2H) and provided a private single secure connection between the client’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems directly with the bank to drive efficiencies.
The bank implemented an integrated SWIFT solution for a large player in the oil and gas business to digitalise its transaction banking operations including payment and reconciliation processes. The bank offered its SWIFT capabilities to exchange MT 940 or ‘customer statement message’ for the client’s daily reconciliation purpose and MT 101 messages also called ‘request for transfer’ to pay the suppliers or for salary payments. The bank enables customers to leverage H2H solutions for its bulk payment requirements. Currently, it is in the process of upgrading the systems to support an average of 29,000 transactions per week, which is a major achievement for the franchise.
AfrAsia Bank is pursuing opportunities particularly in the health and pharmaceutical sectors in an environment that is impacted by the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.
Digital Strategy and Technology and Innovation: Nearly 100% of manual operations were converted to e- channels
Absa Mauritius launched Absa Access Online (AAO) to address all the transactional needs of customers along with a single sign on and view across all Absa businesses. The bank also launched an online trade finance app platform which saw a customer usage rate of 15% year-over-year while transactions grew by 50%. The platform is capable of processing transactions within 24 hours, compared to the market average rate of two days. This achievement is a testament to the adoption of digital signatures and nearly 100% conversion of operational processes including fax and email to e-channels.
About Transaction Finance Awards
The Asian Banker Transaction Awards Programme, refereed by prominent global bankers, IT consultants and academics, is the most prestigious of its kind in the Asia Pacific. Recipients of the awards are honoured in a gala event to recognise their efforts in bringing superior products and services to customers. A stringent and comprehensive evaluation process determines the awardees. For specific details relating to description of the awards, evaluation criteria and process, kindly visit https://www.asianbankerawards.com/transactionawards/index.php
About The Asian Banker
The Asian Banker is the region’s most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The Singapore-based company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Manila, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Dubai, as well as representatives in London, New York, and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services and forums. The company’s website is www.theasianbanker.com.
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Sue Kim
The Asian Banker
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