{"id":227111,"date":"2022-05-25T19:06:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T17:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=116369"},"modified":"2022-05-25T19:06:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T17:06:12","slug":"smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"SMEs struggle to find simple, smart, accessible banking solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1 \">\n<aside id=\"republication_tracker_tool-2\" class=\"republication_tracker_tool clearfix\">\n<h5 class=\"adtitle\">Republish for Free<\/h5>\n<div class=\"license\">\n<p><button name=\"Republish This Story\" id=\"cc-btn\" class=\"republication-tracker-tool-button\">Republish This Story<\/button><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"license\" rel=\"noreferrer license noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions.png\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message\">\n<p>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?attachment_id=116370\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-116370 size-thumbnail lazyload\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-116370 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions.jpg\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"200\">SMEs struggle to find simple, smart, accessible banking solutions<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s what they need to fuel SA\u2019s growth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While the growth of South Africa\u2019s SMEs has often been cited as a potential panacea to the country\u2019s economic woes, these businesses typically struggle to access a full suite of business banking products. Employing up to 60% of South Africa\u2019s workforce and contributing 34% of GDP, only 14% of SMEs are formalised, limiting their access to the financial services that could help them grow, and employ even more people.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Executive of Sasfin\u2019s newly unified business and commercial banking division, Sandile Shabalala, is resolute in his drive to change this status quo, and in just over three months in the role, has already identified ways and means for the bank to expand its business banking offerings for this underserved but vitally important segment of the economy.<\/p>\n<p>As the launch CEO of the fully digital TymeBank, building it to more than 1,000,000 customers by the time he moved on from there in 2019, Shabalala has particular insights into what business banking clients really need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany business owners feel like their banks just don\u2019t \u2018get them\u2019, and they see banking processes as onerous and tedious, lacking in transparency and flexibility,\u201d Shabalala explains. \u201cThey\u2019re looking for a partner that understands their needs \u2013 and that has created solutions that respond directly to their business requirements, whether it\u2019s for day to day transactions or by helping businesses grow by making funding available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McKinsey research found that slow bank lending processes, such as an insistence on hard-copy documentation and branch visits, was behind SMEs\u2019 slow uptake of the COVID-19 loan guarantee scheme. These slow processes are typical of many applications and transactions in South African banking, with the research highlighting how significant a barrier to accessing necessary finance these processes really are.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese factors are at play in SMEs\u2019 everyday operations, and not just in the context of the COVID-19 loan guarantee scheme,\u201d Shabalala says. \u201cWhen your working day is consumed with keeping your business alive, you don\u2019t have time to fill in forms, get documents certified, or stand in long queues during banks\u2019 limited operating hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Streamlining access to growth funding<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSMEs need solutions that create value via streamlined customer service interfaces, and with a single point of contact. Having access to this level of understanding from your business bank will take a weight off an entrepreneur\u2019s mind while giving them access \u2013 at their fingertips \u2013 to a range of financial products and services that will help them sustain and grow their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to accessing funding, SMEs need relevant products with simple processes that are completed with as few touchpoints as possible so that they can get quick decisions that empower them to make the best choices for their business,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The customer must be at the heart of SME banking<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The best way to find out what SME banking customers want is to talk to them, and Shabalala is firm in his resolve that Sasfin\u2019s strategy is not about pushing one product across the sector, but is rather about having broader conversations to build relationships with customers so that the bank can enhance its value offering to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only way we can be effective as growth solutionists, is by ensuring that we immerse ourselves more deeply with the customer and bring senior expertise to the table. By way of example, we have a vastly experienced, senior and solution-driven credit committee where our Group CEO actively participates, which is very rare,\u201d he notes, adding that Sasfin\u2019s specialist dealmakers are willing to provide value-added service and advice beyond simply offering a loan, a unique point of difference for the SME segment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important to these business owners that their banks are accessible to them, whether that\u2019s through well-trained and insightful client service representatives that are readily available or whether it\u2019s through accelerating our digital-first approach that puts the full power of our banking suite at their fingertips so that they can manage their finances when they need to, wherever they may be,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n<p>With a focus on simplification and taking the complexity out of banking for the women and men who are at the coalface of building businesses, creating jobs, and growing the economy, Shabalala is focused on putting power back in his customers\u2019 hands, empowering them with the tools that they really need.<\/p>\n<p>For more information contact info@mediaweb.co.za or call 021 419 3144.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"post-views-icon dashicons dashicons-chart-bar\"><\/span> <span class=\"post-views-label\">Press Release Views:<\/span> <span class=\"post-views-count\">57<\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\">Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republish for Free Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. SMEs struggle to find simple, smart, accessible banking solutions Here\u2019s what they need to fuel SA\u2019s growth While the growth of South Africa\u2019s SMEs has often been cited as a potential panacea to the country\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3331,18,3332,9021,3336,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-227111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-town","8":"category-durban","9":"category-johannesburg-south-africa","10":"category-mypr","11":"category-pretoria-south-africa","12":"category-south-africa","13":"tag-mypr","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/smes-struggle-to-find-simple-smart-accessible-banking-solutions.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}