A recent report published by Capgemini has found that 89% of SMEs feel underserved by their banks and are considering moving to a FinTech challenger.
The World Payments Report include opinions from 125 senior executives of leading banks and covered insights from over 17 global markets.
The study found that new payment methods are expected to increase from around 17% of total non-cash transactions in 2021 to around 24% by 2026.
According to Capgemini, despite promising post-pandemic recovery levels, the report found SMBs are continuing to struggle with cash flow issues and conversion cycles, stunting the next phase of growth for many. This has led to rising demands for payment service providers to step and realign their priorities to help SMBs explore new market opportunities.
The report also found that more than a quarter of banks struggle with monolithic and inflexible infrastructures, with 75% of the executives prioritising costs towards keeping current systems running over innovating new value propositions.
Capgemini said that payment firms should ‘embrace composability’ that lets them select and assemble building blocks in various combinations to satisfy customer requirements. From this, companies can configure their offerings to best align with SME needs.
A key technology being adopted by banks is distributed ledger technology, which is emerging as a big advantage for thriving in the modern day. The study found that 64% of SMBs believe DLT could emerge as a viable complimentary option to existing payment networks, as B2B cross-border transactions on the blockchain continue to grow alongside cryptocurrency transactions.
In addition, the rapid rise of more unregulated crypto assets has led many banks to explore the opportunities deriving from central bank digital currency (CBDC). The report highlighted that those looking to become industry frontrunners are already scaling DLT use cases for the next wave of growth opportunities.
Capgemini global head of payments and cards Jeroen Hölscher said, “Small and medium businesses are the backbone of global economic growth, contributing to half of global GDP and global employment. And yet, they are some of the most affected by the recent market volatility. Banks and payment service providers must realign their priorities to capture this untapped value through innovative and experiential payment services.”
Copyright © 2022 FinTech Global
![Temenos (SIX: TEMN) today announced that National Bank of Iraq (NBI), part of the Capital Bank Group, has successfully gone live with Temenos core banking and payments. NBI, which has 27 branches across Iraq, offers a comprehensive range of services to individuals and businesses in the country. Since 2005, NBI has been majority owned by Capital Bank, one of the top financial institutions operating in the Jordanian and regional markets, with assets of approximately JOD 7.6 billion[1]. With this implementation, NBI moved from its legacy systems onto the same core banking platform as other entities in the Capital Bank Group. This will enable NBI to operate more efficiently and integrate seamlessly with other systems to develop new products faster and deliver an improved customer experience. Capital Bank Group is a long-standing Temenos customer with other entities in the Group including Capital Bank of Jordan, Bank Audi, Société Générale Bank Jordan and NBI Saudi Arabia, already on the Temenos platform. NBI also becomes the first part of the group to adopt Temenos Payments, which enabled the bank to process more than 100,000 transactions of incoming and outgoing domestic and international payments in the first 15 days of operation, with a 99% straight-through processing rate. The migration to the Temenos platform for core banking and payments at NBI was completed in under 12 months thanks to Temenos’ pre-configured banking and payments capabilities and APIs which reduced the need for complex customizations, as well as close collaboration between Temenos, NBI, Capital Bank and delivery partner ITSS. This success was recently recognized in the IBS Intelligence Innovation Awards, with Capital Bank winning ‘Best Implementation of Core Banking Services'. The implementation at NBI follows several other successful transformation projects with Temenos for Capital Bank in the last few years, including the launch of NBI’s branch operations in Saudi Arabia in just 45 days, as well as the integration of Bank Audi and the former Jordanian operations of Société Générale, each of which was achieved in under four months. Collectively, these projects helped Capital Bank to increase operational efficiency by more than 50% within three years, bringing significant cost savings and an improved customer experience. With faster, more accurate processing and immediate service requests, the bank has maintained high customer retention rates and a reputation for service excellence. Izzidin Abusalameh, Chief Operations Officer, Capital Bank Group, commented: “This achievement marks a significant milestone in our digital transformation journey and positions us as a leading player in the banking industry. We have seamlessly transitioned the National Bank of Iraq to a cutting-edge core banking system which will not only enhance operational efficiency but also support providing our customers with a superior digital banking experience. Our continued partnership with Temenos has not only provided us with an advanced technological platform but has also facilitated a culture of flexibility and adaptability, enabling us to execute our ambitious growth plans.” Lee Allcorn, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Temenos, said: “Congratulations to National Bank of Iraq and the Capital Bank team on this successful implementation that gives NBI business agility and the same modern technology platform and ability to deploy fast with pre-configured banking capabilities as the rest of the group. With Temenos, Capital Bank Group is future-ready, and we are proud to support them as they continue to innovate and leverage our platform to grow sustainably and enhance the banking experience for customers.”](https://fintech.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rupixen-Q59HmzK38eQ-unsplash-2-218x150.jpg "Flutterwave teams up with Acquired.com to streamline outward remittances in EU and UK")
