When the President of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Uche Olowu, said that 30% of bank jobs would be handled by technology years to come, some critics thought that would only happen in decade(s).
According to the CIBN boss, the increasing acceptance of digital banking would make some departments redundant and that may force some financial institutions would lay off staff in departments like sales and teller. As at 2019, when he made the disclosure, many had thought the development would take a longer period than expected.
Olowu’s projection was confirmed when Renmoney Microfinance Bank issued a statement notifying its stakeholders of its decision to reduce the workforce of the financial institution and affected largely the sales department of the bank. While the bank was silenced on the number of the affected staff, there are reports that over 300 employees were relieved of their duties.
The affected staff of Renmoney were the latest victims of digital banking, as it downsized its workforce after stating that it would no longer conduct direct service for customers.
The Fintech company plans to go fully digital, hence, making its direct sales workers redundant. Operations like loan applications, opening savings or fixed deposit accounts will now be done through digital platforms like mobile apps.
In a statement, Renmoney’s Chief Executive Officer, Kieran Donnelly, stated that, “Over the past 24 months, we have significantly increased our technology capacity and adopted best-in-class data science for credit.”
According to him, Renmoney now possesses technology that can fast-track loan applications and credit disbursements within 24hours.
Donnelly said, “We will have to let go of our direct sales employees and some supporting functions.”
[READ MORE: Five industries that thrive in COVID-19 downturn)
He further stated that Renmoney would roll out a new mobile app for customers to manage their deposits, savings and loan. The sack of these workers is part of the projections made following the rise of digital banking within the country.
Digital Banking affecting jobs: Aside from Renmoney downsizing its workforce, Standard Chartered Bank had also stated that it would not be expanding its branches, as it prefers to focus on digital banking. Nairametrics had reported last year that the future of banks’ staff was being threatened by digitalisation.
