The report classifies Wema Bank as number three in SME Banking, this is three places higher than the bank’s 2020 classification.

Wema Bank has been consistent in its drive to support the growth and development of SMEs in the country. The bank has initiated several financial and advisory support programs to boost SMEs, some of which include: Single-digit loans for women, uncollateralized loans for SMEs, quarterly SME webinars, access-to-market initiatives, and a plethora of other advisory and support services

In the last year, Wema Bank pioneered the establishment of the first bank-led SME business school in the country, aimed at boosting critical knowledge and capabilities for SMEs at no cost to beneficiaries. The business school which enjoys the support of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany, has reputable consultants and organizations such as Ernst & Young, MTN, Microsoft, Google, Agusto, etc. facilitate at the program.

The KPMG survey ranked banks using the six pillars of customer experience excellence, including integrity (being trustworthy and engendering trust), resolution (turning a poor experience into a great one), and expectations (managing, meeting, and exceeding customer’s expectations. The others were empathy (understanding the customer’s circumstances to drive deep rapport), personalization (using individualized attention to drive emotional connection), and time and effort (minimizing customer effort and creating frictionless processes).

In a statement on the survey report, KPMG said, “This year’s leaders show digital banking excellence and have adapted well to higher transaction volumes and complaints.”

Commenting on the bank’s KPMG ranking, the Managing Director/CEO, Wema Bank, Ademola Adebise, said it was an affirmation of the bank’s commitment to the growth and well-being of SMEs as critical contributors to the economy.

He said, “At Wema Bank, we recognize SMEs as an important part of the economy, and we are always on the lookout for their well-being. We are happy that the SMEs acknowledge our contributions, hence our ranking.”

Speaking further, he stated that recognitions such as this are an invitation to do more. He therefore gave the bank’s unwavering commitment to intensifying its support to SMEs in year 2022.

Recall that in 2020, Wema Bank received the SME Bank of the year award from Business Day, and in 2021, the bank has again received this recognition from KPMG as a customer experience leader in the banking industry. This is definitely a bank to look out for in 2022.

The KPMG Nigeria Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey has been held annually for the last 15 years with the 2021 edition themed “Changing Customer, Changing Priorities”.

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The Macro trends suggested by KPMG are -Global dynamics, fiscal sustainability, uncertain forex environment, stringent policy posture, constrained productivity and accelerated credit penetration, cautious private sector investment activities, emerging digital economy, socio-political threats, and consumer pressure points.

According to the Associate Director, Strategy and Economics, Olusegun Zacchaeus, Nigerians are expected to embrace more pressure from the global economy as the modest recovery in 2021 is faced by the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic.

He said: “The emergence of a new democrat president will have implications on the global economy. The bigger fiscal stimulus package totaling US$2.5 trillion from 2021 to 2024 is expected to drive recovery.

“On oil price dynamics, bilateralism with possible easing of trade tensions between the US and China. Possible catalyst for distortion in oil prices given strong advocacy for shift away from fossil fuel.”

“WTO expects a significant downturn in global trade in 2020 between 13% and 32%, and some recovery in 2021 at 8%. Risks to the outlook include a second wave of COVID-19 with the results being very sensitive to the length of time that the Covid-19 threat remains in place or trade restrictions.”

Speaking on fiscal sustainability, he stressed that Nigeria’s fiscal flexibility is restricted by a high interest bill of government revenue and inefficiency in non oil tax collection.

 He also noted that the effect of new tax policies could be traced down to economic outputs. He however advised the integrated revenue monitoring system (IRMS) on the need to implement easy revenue recognition.

In the same vein, Zacchaeus stated that the foreign exchange environment will always be under pressure from low foreign exchange earnings.

He said: “The foreign exchange environment will remain under pressure exacerbated by lower FX earnings. Fair value estimation at N422, reflecting a 9% overvaluation of real effective rate. Fair value may improve but rates will still be misaligned in 2021.

“Liquidity is low due to the pressure on foreign reserves and sharp fall in capital importation by -78% in Q2 2020. Liquidity will remain challenged given oil price outlook and capital flows.”

He pointed out that Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) policy environment has an adverse effect on the overall growth on the economy.

His words: “The nature, speed, volume, and magnitude of change is not predictable e.g. rising Inflation and low aggregate demand. Lack of clarity resulting in multiple and conflicting interpretations.

“Lack of predictability in issues and events make it difficult to see future outcomes or make decisions. The focus will be more on social vs economic growth.”

While addressing the issue of accelerating credit penetration, KPMG stated that despite increased supply to private sectors, Nigeria continues to be credit-starved.

“Increase in CRR from 22.5% to 27.5% to tame excess liquidity and inflation. The Reduction in MPR by 100bps from 12:5% to 11.5%. Development Finance Initiative as a policy tool will enhance credit penetration,” Deepened credit penetration is expected to continue in 2021.

Meanwhile, according to KPMG, Emerging digital economy is expected to experience growth in 2021.

“On the influx of start ups in the segment, KPMG stated that the total funding in Nigerian startups in 2018 up to $178 Million. Entry of new players, 15 startups raised more than $1million in the fintech segment.

“Tech start-ups have begun to attract funding from venture capital firms, however, foreign investors provide over 80% of this funding.”

Finally, KPMG believes that the pressures faced by consumers such as unemployment and erosion of purchasing power, due to inflation will contribute to additional pressure points. Thus,  as consumer continues to face these challenges, consumer spending will remain under pressure.

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