Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
Tech visionAugust 1 2018

Emirates NBD’s new digital lead brings a fintech mindset

Evans Munyuki, recently appointed as group chief digital officer at Emirates NBD, talks to Joy Macknight about his plans to take the digitally mature bank to the next level of innovation. 
Share the article
twitter-iconcopy-link-iconprint-icon
share-icon
Evans Munyuki

The fast-paced digital transformation happening across the financial services sector in the Middle East, as well as Dubai’s quest to be the best in pretty much everything, is what attracted Evans Munyuki to the region and to the role as group chief digital officer (CDO) at Emirates NBD. “The opportunity to take my emerging markets experience in Africa and [emerging] Europe, and bring these learnings into the Middle East region, was attractive and I decided to pursue it,” he says.

Emirates NBD’s digital prowess also influenced his decision. In 2017 alone, the Dubai-based lender launched FaceBanking, a live video chat service available online and via mobile calls; its first paperless digital branch in Dubai World Trade Centre; and Liv, the lifestyle digital bank for millennials. Plus, its banking robot, Pepper, learned to speak Arabic.

As head of the newly created digital office, Mr Munyuki is responsible for bringing coherence and consistency to the bank’s numerous digital projects. “If the projects aren’t orchestrated in a structured way, then the bank could end up duplicating digital assets, as well as not realising the optimal customer experience possible with a more holistic approach,” he says. “The purpose of the digital office is to look at the key assets we need to create, then centralise and reuse them across different businesses.”

  • 2017 Emirates NBD, group chief digital officer
  • 2016 MyBucks, CDO and chief information officer
  • 2016 Barclays Africa Group, business head of alternative (digital) business models
  • 2013 Barclays Africa Group, CDO for the retail and business bank 
  • 2010 Barclays Africa Group, CIO for the business bank
Career history: Evans Munyuki

At the beginning of 2018, Emirates NBD created a digital council, which meets every two weeks to discuss ongoing projects, review previous projects and identify future customer problems to be solved. The body is chaired by group CEO Shayne Nelson and includes heads of business lines. “The digital council demonstrates how seriously the bank takes the digital agenda for the entire organisation,” says Mr Munyuki.

Reaching the next level

Just eight months into the role, Mr Munyuki has created a digital transformation roadmap to take the digitally mature bank to the next level in “certain blue ocean areas”. He summarises the strategy in four letters: DDLA. The first ‘D’ stands for design-led. “Being design-led means focusing on the customer experience and looking at the world from the outside in, not from the inside out,” he explains.

The second ‘D’ stands for data, effectively leveraging artificial intelligence and analytics to create a better user experience. The ‘L’ is for lean execution, such as straight-through processing, automation and robotics, and removing paper.

The final letter, ‘A’, is for agile. “We have changed the way we work and are now organised into agile squads. The developers, business, digital teams all sit together to foster collaboration, which helps to speed up output,” says Mr Munyuki.

Fintech engagement

Mr Munyuki brings a unique skillset to the CDO role. He joined Emirates NBD from a pure fintech company, MyBucks, which addresses financial inclusion and operates across 14 African and European markets. He also spent six years at Barclays Africa Group, "a big bank with digital ambitions”, as well as 15 years at IBM before that. “I have had a nice mix of experience at a technology company, a traditional bank and then a fintech, and bring an appreciation for the role that each component plays,” he says.

Unsurprisingly, he believes that banks should not be fearful of fintechs. “Fintechs have done a good job in delivering a wake-up call to the financial services sector,” he says. “There is an opportunity for banks to partner with fintechs, or at a minimum to learn from fintechs how to be more relevant in this era where incumbents could be at risk if they don’t improve customer engagement.”

Emirates NBD is actively engaged with the international fintech community through its partnership with UK-based Motive Partners, which scouts and curates fintechs based on specific issues the bank wants to solve, and locally with the Dubai International Financial Centre’s Fintech Hive, which the bank sponsors. “We are quite advanced with a few fintech partnerships and will soon be making some announcements in the market,” hints Mr Munyuki.

Building a digital ecosystem

The bank is also committed to the Smart Dubai Gov initiative, which aims to deliver world-class smart services and infrastructure. In April, it was the first institution in the region to go live with ‘Cheque Chain’, which integrates blockchain technology into issued cheques to prevent fraud, and plans to on-board other banks over the next six months.

It is embracing open banking and is in the process of setting up an application programming interface sandbox, which will allow staff and external partners to innovate together with the bank.

The upcoming Expo 2020, which is being hosted in Dubai for six months from October 20, 2020, will give Emirates NBD an opportunity to showcase its forward-looking digital achievements. It is looking, for example, at how to provide a differentiated payment experience for the expected 25 million Expo visitors, somewhere Mr Munyuki’s experience with mobile wallets could be an asset.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!

Joy Macknight is the editor of The Banker. She joined the publication in 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor. Previously, she was features editor at Profit & Loss, editorial director at Treasury Today and editor at gtnews. She also worked as a staff writer on Banking Technology and IBM Computer Today, as well as a freelancer on Computer Weekly. She has a BSc from the University of Victoria, Canada.
Read more articles from this author