Barclays records 13% growth in 2018, Melu
By Staff Reporter
BARCLAYS Bank Zambia managing director Mizinga Melu says the balance sheet for the bank has grown by 13 percent in the first three-quarters of 2018.
Speaking to journalists at a year-end breakfast at Radisson Blu Hotel in Lusaka this morning, Melu said the bank’s balance sheet, from both corporate and retail sides had grown to very exciting levels.
“The 13 per cent; it’s been a very exciting three-quarters. Our balance sheet has grown and it hasn’t just grown on the corporate side. But the exciting thing is the retail side; the retail side is actually growing. We are seeing a lot more customers are borrowing from the bank. But we are also seeing a lot of customers saving in the bank,” Melu said.
She added that the other growth the bank recorded this year came from the number of customers who had taken full advantage of the mobile banking platforms.
“When we started the year, in terms of the numbers where we were and where we are now…. we’ve got a target of close to 70 per cent of our clients all using the mobile platforms. But we are closer to that,” Melu disclosed.
She highlighted that Barclays Bank Zambia had grown and that it was the number one bank on profit before tax.
“That itself shows confidence in our clients that this bank is still very strong, we are very well capitalised. ABSA, at group level, is a very strong brand; it’s over 1. 3 trillion Rand worth of capital across the [African] continent,” Melu noted.
“Our job as a bank is just to crystallise that journey by showing the investment in technology, investment in our people – how are you reaching the different people i.e. the farmers, the mining sector?”
And Melu indicated that so far, Barclays Bank Zambia had distributed about 54, 000 payments to farmers and hoped the figures could reach 75, 000 by the end of the year.
Melu said the bank had complied to the unwarranted bank charges as directed by the Central Bank.
“The central bank did issue a notice maybe in the last two months where they directed the banks to remove some charges which they termed as unwarranted. As Barclays I can only confirm that we are fully compliant with that directive,” said Melu.
Meanwhile, when asked how Barclays Bank Zambia was working to ensure that it captures the previously unbanked population, the bank’s retail banking director Harton Maliki said the strategy around that issue was participation through its digital capabilities.
“Kongola is a good example of what we have done within our financial inclusion. When we talk of Kongola, we are talking about lending to people in the compounds. If you look at people in Bauleni, we are now able to lend money to them just because they are on mobile money,” explained Maliki.
To augment Maliki’s response, Barclays Bank Zambia corporate banking director Banja Kayumba said the bank had partnered with some mobile network operators to provide financial services to people in far-flung areas.
