In 2020, during the pandemic, Société Générale Maroc launched its digital bank called SoGé. Youssef Zerrari, Head of Service Unit Strategy, Marketing, Quality and Innovation at Société Générale Maroc, tells us more about it.
Why did your bank decide to launch a neobank/challenger bank and how did it proceed?
The global neobanking market size was valued at USD 47 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 53% from 2022 to 2030. The rising demand for convenience among customers in the banking sector is expected to drive market growth.
In fact, neobanks are the perfect illustration of the evolution of the banking market today and its adaptation to new customer profiles that are always connected and more demanding. Neobanks offer banking solutions without the need for physical branches or offices. They help users validate their service offerings in real time through online channels. In addition, the growing adoption of smartphones and the internet across the world for online banking is expected to further accelerate the demand for neobank platforms. More than that we are driven by innovation which is one of our values, and having the vision of being the relational bank at the service of customer satisfaction, we are the bank of tomorrow, and we work hard to be the precursors in a highly competitive industry.
By focusing on simple, innovative solutions centered on day-to-day banking services and payments, neobanks have perfectly understood how to adapt to new consumption patterns and new customer needs. This strong dynamism is part of a trend of integration of fintech in the banking sector.
Société Générale Maroc wanted to anticipate these trends and to provide the best customer experience in the Moroccan market by being the first bank to launch a 100% digital bank, and it did so by creating SoGé. Of course, we had to conduct a certain number of studies to examine the opportunity before the launch (market and feasibility studies, business plan, etc.). SoGé was launched in July 2020 – during the pandemic – and it took us about three months from design to launch the first version (the MVP – Minimum Viable Product).
We started from scratch developing SoGé in-house, leveraging our assets and capabilities as one of the leading financial groups in Morocco.
