Committed to growing the
Committed to growing the South African and African economy Access Bank CEO Sugendhree Reddy reflects on the significant achievements made in a short time by this award-winning bank. Congratulations on the award, Best Business Banking Solutions in South Africa for 2022. Given that Access Bank’s rebranding and SA launch was in 2021, you must be very proud of the achievement? It was certainly a proud moment for the team and me. To achieve a prestigious award in such a short period confirms that we are doing things right and the market is ready for change in the banking environment. Do you see Access Bank as building on the various brands which preceded its South African launch? Access Bank is different to the past banks. Bank of Athens was a niche business bank which predominately serviced the Greek community. Grobank was an agricultural bank and Access Bank is a full-service retail and wholesale bank servicing all communities. The products and services are different to the previous two banks, and we are a stronger bank with a parent who is committed to growing the African economy. A merger with Diamond Bank in 2019 meant that Access Bank is now one of Africa’s largest retail banks. What is the scale of the bank’s operations and what does that enable the bank to do for customers that a smaller operation would not be able to do? On the continent we have over 600 branches and serve over 50-million customers. We have a total staff count of over 20 000 people. What are your short-term and medium-term goals for Access Bank in South Africa? The short-term goal is to win the hearts and minds of banking consumers, to be known as the most respected African bank who solves customer problems by co-creating solutions with customers. We want to aggressively grow our customer base in all areas of the bank. The medium-term goal is to be the Top Tier 2 bank in South Africa by profitability, assets and service. Access Bank CEO, Sugendhree Reddy Which segments of the bank have been experiencing the best growth? We are proud of the significant inroads we made in the Corporate Banking segment which we launched early in 2022. We already bank a few listed entities. We are also pleased with our Business and 26 | www.opportunityonline.co.za
BUSINESS BANKING Commercial Banking segment; we continue to build and grow this segment. Our differentiation is that we solve for customer problems, we don’t just push products. Is this a reflection of trends in the South African economy? We are experiencing growth in all sectors. Although the South African economy is currently strained, there are still opportunities for the smart entrepreneurs, for example, we see growth in the energy sector but similarly we also see the agricultural sector showing strong growth. Please tell us about Access Bank’s plans for a banking platform for the SMME sector. We support the SMME sector through our Womenpreneur Pitch- A-Ton, an annual competition we run to showcase women in business. We offer the top 10 women a R50 000 voucher to be used towards any educational course. In addition, the top three winners also receive cash prizes. We also support these businesses on our social media platform. We are also working with development finance partners (DFIs) to create a fund to support SMMEs. Does Access Bank have particular products aimed at women? We don’t have specific products aimed at women but through Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton we support women in business by showcasing the brilliant women entrepreneurs we have in our country. What inspired you to get involved in the financial sector? I have a finance background and at an early stage in my career I was exposed to commodity trading, hedging, securitisation, etc, and I found banking to be the most interesting sector to be in as we see our actions change the course of someone’s life or business. My finance background helped me to be successful in the financial services sector. Your career has been very varied within the financial sector: do you see your stints in the public sector and various roles in companies as preparing you for your new role at Access Bank? I am most grateful to all my previous employers. Every position I previously held groomed me for my role at Access Bank. I was always ambitious and I deliberately made career choices to get me to eventually become a custodian of a bank. What were the key things you learnt at GIBS and Harvard? Harvard and GIBS made me appreciate the power of diversity. When we were given a problem to solve it was amazing to see how people from different backgrounds (doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc) brought different views to solve the same problem. These universities also open a network across the world. I have friends who live in 86 different countries and I can call upon them at any time to give me unbiased opinions on problems I am trying to solve. Harvard and GIBS exposed me to so many different environments, companies and world leaders. Getting to learn from these outstanding leaders was priceless. Have you had particularly influential mentors along the way? I had many mentors along my career journey and mentorship is critical to get objective feedback. My standout mentor was Ursula Wingfield at BMW Financial Services. She was an excellent leader and achieved so much as a woman. She took me under her wing and gave me many opportunities to quickly climb the corporate ladder, including seconding me to work at BMW Financial Services Australia. She taught me that all a person needs is confidence and clarity of thought and you can achieve your dreams. www.opportunityonline.co.za | 27
