BusinessDay 22 May 2018

Tuesday 22 May 2018 C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 3
The future of banking is digital - Temenos
ENDURANCE OKAFOR
Temenos, the banking software
company, in its fifth
series on the future of retail
banking disclosed that the future
of banking is digital, as there is a
significant shift in the strategic
concerns of banking executives
worldwide.
“Technology is now the enabler,
which will empower banks
to build digital ecosystems and
capitalize on the open banking
opportunity. IT renovation
is key to banks’ strategy and,
indeed, their very existence; as
they will need to redefine their
business models in the new API
economy,” David Arnott, Chief
Executive Officer at Temenos,
stated.
The is based on the introduction
of new digital technologies
and the rise of the smartphone
which has replaced post-financial
crisis regulation as the drivers
of strategic thinking at banks
around the world.
Therefore, Integrating open
banking that allows apps to initiate
payments and other financial
transactions is core to adapting to
the digital banking age.
The report, conducted for
Temenos by the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU), offered
a global investigation into the
strategic concerns of retail banking
executives.
It revealed that 78 percent
of bankers worldwide believe
Nigeria loses N1.493trn to lottery operators
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
Nigeria’s House of Representatives
on Monday
threatened to recommend
revocation of licences
of lottery operators over loss of
N1.493 trillion revenue.
Bello Maigari, acting executive
secretary of National Lottery
Trust Fund (NLTF), who spoke
during an investigative public
hearing held at the instance of
House Committee on Inter-Governmental
Affairs, said meagre
sum of N7 billion was realised by
the Fund over the past 13 years.
Maigari, who cited lack of effective
regulation in the industry
as a major factor hindering
improved revenue drive, said,
“The Nigerian lottery market
according to industry experts
is the most attractive market
in the whole of Africa.
”The industry is worth over
N1.5 trillion as we speak. Lottery
and gaming businesses
have continued to flourish
without proper regulation.”
YOMI AYELESO, Akure
Senator representing Ondo
North Senatorial District,
Ajayi Boroffice, has called
on the Inspector General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris, and Ondo
state commissioner of Police,
Gbenga Adeyanju, to arrest
and prosecute those that attacked
some journalists during
the Saturday’s All Progressives
Congress (APC) state congress
in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
It would be recalled that
political thugs attacked some
journalists during a parallel state
congress of the party in Akure.
Boroffice stated this during
that platformisation of banking
will steer the market according
to the in-depth survey released
yesterday, May 21, 2018.
A breakdown of the report
shows that for the first time in
its 5 year retail banking survey
history, technology and digital
are bigger trends than regulation,
as product agility is now the top
strategic priority for 52 percent of
the survey respondents.
Artificial intelligence (AI) was
also becoming a key part of the
new technology mix, but uncertainty
however remains over the
user experience, as compiled
from the report.
A further breakdown of the
report revealed 71 percent of
respondents are focusing their
digital investment on cyber security,
up from only 34 percent
reported last year.
“Banking has reached a watershed
moment with changing
customer behaviours, disruptive
new technologies and a dramatic
increase in competitors from
within and outside of banking.
The most enlightened banks
understand that to become truly
digital they need to update their
systems front-to-back. This will
fulfil their business need for product
agility; they can offer the right
products, over the right channel,
and at the right time,” Arnott said.
Although the impact of open
banking and tighter security and
data rules is not clear, according
to the report, 71 percent are
focusing their digital investment
While noting that lottery
has significantly contributed
to the gross domestic product
of many countries across the
continent, Maigari added that
about 7.5 million to 22 million
Nigerians engage in lottery and
sport betting daily.
“Records at our disposal
indicate that cumulative returns
of about five years stood
at about 7.2 billion, and this is
unacceptable in a nation with
so much potential like Nigeria.
“We’ve lost N1.43 trillion to
defaulting lottery operators that
refused to pay their remittances
since the inception of the lottery
gaming system,” he said.
According to Maigari, “operators
are expected to remit 20
percent of their earnings in the
first five years and subsequent
five years but thereafter they
are expected to pay 27 percent.
“But for 13 years now the
operators have failed to adhere
to relevant laws governing lottery
operations in Nigeria.”
In his remarks, Lanre Gbaa
solidarity visit to the members
of NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel
office on Monday in Akure, noting
that the attacked was very
crude, barbaric and uncalled for,
considering the important roles
journalists play in the society.
He said: “I call on Inspector
General of Police and Commissioner
of Police in the state to
investigate and bring to book
those found culpable in the
dastardly act. It is disheartening,
embarrassing and suspicious
that such attack could happen in
the presence of security agents.
“The journalists were merely
doing their work to give fair and
equal reportage to the faction
on cyber security, only 17 percent
are thinking about the risks from
third-party relationships as a
result of open banking.
Temenos however advised
that banks can take the fintechs
on by building all-encompassing
platforms that are seamless with
other products and services, as
digital investments are being directed
to digital channel delivery
capabilities such as mobile (cited
by 54 percent of respondents),
cloud-based technologies (48
percent), and in modernising
front- and back-end systems
(37percent).
The future of retail banking
as projected by Temenos might
have already started rubbing off
on Nigerian banks, considering
the last National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) banking sector report
for the first quarter of 2018, which
had more digital transactions
than the traditional banking.
A total volume of over 457.2
million transactions valued at
N32.48 trillion were recorded in
Q1 2018 as data on electronic
payment channels in the Nigeria
banking sector.
The report indicated Automated
Teller Machine (ATM)
transactions as being the dominant
or the highest volume of
transactions in the banking sector.
It showed that 212.3million
volume of ATM transactions
valued at N1.568 trillion were
recorded in the first quarter of
this year.
jabiamila, director-general of
National Lottery Regulatory
Commission (NLRC), admitted
that the Commission had
a lot of work to do in bringing
the sector to an acceptable
international pedestal.
To achieve the feat, he
harped on the need for immediate
overhaul of the obsolete
legislative framework on lottery
in Nigeria.
According to Gbajabiamila,
President Buhari approved total
number of 21 operators recommended
by the Commission.
”A lot has been said from
the speeches of the chairman
and Mr Speaker, which I concur
with, and we still have lots of
work to do, as our laws are outdated
and need to be re-jigged.
”We need this House, especially
the committee to help
us in updating the lottery and
gaming laws, they are outdated
and a lot of things are going
on out there that need to be
tapped into using enabling
legislations.
Attack on journalists: Boroffice urges IGP to prosecute culprits
and by extension to enable
member of public to know the
outcome of the exercise. Every
civilised society respect journalists
even during the war because
any society that shuns journalists
is dead.”
Boroffice, who is also chairman
of Senate Committee on
Science and Technology, said
that his visit was to show solidarity
and salute the courage
and commitment of journalists
despite the intimidation.
He therefore urged all journalists
to continue playing their
statutory roles, saying time
would come when they would
operate without molestation.
NEWS
Exchange rate unification to move Nigeria
to a more diversified economy - IMF
ENDURANCE OKAFOR
International Monetary
Fund (IMF), an organisation
whose aim is to
ensure the stability of
the international monetary
system, has urge Nigeria to
scrap the multiple exchange
rate in order to help move
Africa’s largest economy to
a more diversified state.
The Washington-based
organisation made this
known through its representative
in Nigeria at the
Regional Economic Outlook
held in Lagos yesterday, 21
May, 2018.
“Full exchange rate unification
would help reduce
the parallel market premium
in a sustainable manner
and help Nigeria move
towards a more diversified
economy. This would be
achieved through increased
market confidence, reduce
distortions and increased
transparency, including in
financial market reporting,”
Amine Mati, Senior Resident
Representative and
Mission Chief for Nigeria
Africa Department, IMF told
BusinessDay.
Multiple exchange rate
and foreign exchange re-
strictions as explained by
IMF, creates distortions in
private and public decision
making, discourage
long-term investment, and
provide opportunities for
corruption.
The organisation however
applauded the recent
progress made towards unifying
some of the exchange
rate windows and said it is
very welcomed.
The Investors’ & Exporters’
(I&E) FX window established
by the Godwin
Emefiele led CBN in April
2017 on the aftermath of
the foreign exchange crisis
that hit the country following
the 2014 global crash
in the prices of crude oil,
topped the BusinessDay’s
list of policies and ideas
that impacted positively on
the economy in general and
Nigerians in particular in
the year 2017.
I&E, the new FX window
for investors and exporters
quickly lifted investor
confidence in the foreign
exchange market, improved
price discovery, helped to
attract dollar inflows from
Foreign Portfolio Investors
(FPIs), initiated the
gradual re-introduction of
a liquid inter-bank market
and boosted production
capacity in the manufacturing
sector.
Meanwhile, Bismarck
Rewane, MD of Financial
Derivatives said a unified
and flexible exchange rate
can lead to a single exchange
rate window.
“When policy rigidity is
eliminated in regards to exchange
rate, it will increase
both domestic and foreign
investment, as a market
driven exchange rate makes
both exit and entry into the
market an easy transaction
which can restore investors’
confidence,” Rewane said in
a telephone response.
This is coming after the
Presidential Enabling Business
Environment Council
(PEBEC) announced its
2018 ease of doing business
outlook where it pointed
out the implementation of
a Single Window Platform
(SWP) as one of its project
it wish to achieve by the end
of 2018.
An analyst who preferred
to be quoted anonymously
however said it is above the
pay grade of the PECEC,
that it is the decision of the
central bank of Nigeria.