The financial technology landscape is starting to become crowded. Across emerging markets, there is a whole host of new tech-savvy lenders and neobanks leveraging the latest solutions to rapidly deliver innovative financial services to meet growing consumer demand.
Firms yet to embrace technology risk being left behind, while those using a variety of disconnected systems without an advanced core system to tie it all together will struggle to keep up with more sophisticated rivals.
To remain competitive in this crowded market, lenders and neobanks must embrace the most advanced technology solutions available to them.
The competitive advantage of the cloud
Technology provides firms with an instant competitive edge, both those at the beginning of their digitalisation journey and those with institutional technological knowledge.
- An integrated loan management system allows rapid origination, disbursement, and collections of loans through more efficient processes and integrating lending and payments apps. This enables digital lenders to scale much more rapidly than those without such a system.
- Advanced data gathering and analysis allows firms to collate and analyse huge amounts of client data, allowing them to target loan products, make better credit assessments, and watch out for potential risks more accurately.
- API enabled technology platforms enable near-infinite integrations, allowing firms to link any number of applications and platforms. This reduces manual data entry, allows seamless sharing of client data across the system, and gives firms a more holistic view of their clients and their market.
Digital competition
How are Oradian’s partner firms operating in the Philippines and Nigeria using technology in this crowded market?
Filipino market leading SME lender Esquire Financing believe technology is the key to remaining competitive in a crowded market. CEO Rajan Uttamchandani said “if you don’t have a digital footprint or a digital strategy in this day and age you will fall behind.”
In particular, he noted the role technology played during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping business remain active during periods of heavy restriction. “We saw this with COVID-19,” he said. “The businesses that were ready to be able to operate online were the businesses that succeeded during COVID.”
“With technology,” he continued, “you’re able to scale faster without having to roll-out additional branches, so I think the investment in technology isn’t a cost-saving strategy, but a scale-maximisation strategy.”
Esquire wasn’t the only firm to leverage technology during the pandemic. Nigerian lender Creditville saw adopting Oradian as a crucial means of reducing social contact by allowing them to on-board customers remotely; most importantly, however, Oradian allowed them to improve “customer acquisition, customer evaluation, and reporting” through rapid, efficient processes.
CEO Daniel Rotoye saw technology as key to Creditville’s competitiveness. “If you are a tiny profitable financial institution in a massive world, you might be doing well in your own small corner, but one day you’re going to be swallowed up a more innovative competitor. Visionary leadership can see into that future and determine if there is need for change. That’s what happened with Creditville: the leadership knew that times would change, and technology would take over.”
“Using mobile and digital technology, we are better able to provide the same service as a commercial bank but faster and cheaper because we have lower overheads,” he continued. But to Rotoye, it’s only one part of the story, adding, “of course, we offer the personal touch they often cannot.”
Enhancing existing technology
For many firms, digitalisation begins as a reaction to market conditions. But other businesses utilise advanced digital applications from day one. One of those firms is the Philippines’ Agribusiness Rural Bank, also known as Agribank, which used a variety of proprietary and third-party platforms to conduct its business digitally.
CEO Danny Boy Antonio told us how Agribank was looking for a core system that could integrate those myriad systems under one umbrella. “Oradian offered us an open API layer straight out of the box,” he said. “This meant we could easily integrate their core banking system with our existing loan servicing, origination, and loan officer mobile applications without needing to redevelop everything from scratch.”
The ultimate outcome was huge benefits to Agribank’s performance, speed and efficiency, with no serious interruption to its ability to deliver credit to its clients.
While Nigerian digital lending leader FairMoney has always seen technology as a “platform to achieve the goals [it] has set for the company,” Managing Director Henry Obiekea also understood that getting the most out of technology is something that required the right technology partner.
“We considered the usability of the service, how flexible it is, and how responsive the service provider is,” Obiekea told us. “Just as our customer needs are changing, we also have dynamic company needs. Every point in time we are talking to our partners about our needs and what we can do to improve. We want a partner that does that with us.”
“Looking at Oradian,” he added, “we were able to see all that: we didn’t want to build a core system from scratch, we needed something new and something fresh.
Cloud as a path to growth
Firms like these know the benefits of technology. It enables them to scale and grow faster, capture larger segments of the market, and compete against their peers.
These market leaders choose Oradian as their technology partner because they understand that an advanced, cloud-native, API-enabled core system backed by an experienced team gives them that vital competitive edge, allowing them to operate effectively in a market that is becoming increasingly crowded with digital lenders and neobanks.
To find out how Oradian could be that partner for your business, get in touch today.
