Moroccan Banks Shift to Digital as Branch Closures Accelerate

Out of three bank executives, two believe that within five years, the model based on physical branches will be just a memory. This emerges from a survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit for Temenos, the banking software provider, specifying that "65% of executives consider new technologies such as cloud, AI and APIs as the trend that will have the greatest impact on the sector over the next four years, ahead of regulation and changing customer demands," reports L’Économiste.

Those who had this feeling were 35% in 2018. But with the health crisis and the lockdowns the world has experienced, changes in this sector have evolved rapidly. Thus, among ten respondents, eight predict that in the future, the difference will be made on the basis of the customer experience rather than the products. This then leads to an improvement in technological investments and the multiplication of strategic partners. In addition, about half of the executives want their business to evolve towards more diversified ecosystems.

In addition, "Open Banking and the increased competition from big tech and new entrants are pushing banks to rethink their business models. Many now aspire to develop digital ecosystems that offer more human and differentiated experiences to their customers using the power of cloud, SaaS and AI," said Kanika Hope, Temenos’ strategy director. In addition, bankers in the Africa and Middle East region are more inclined towards mastering digital marketing, modernizing core processing systems, developing customer experience as well as engagement and cost optimization.