SME Banker of the Year 2024 nominee: Dominic Provençal
We are introducing the nominees for the SME Banker of the Year 2024 Award – dynamic and inventive leaders who have dedicated themselves to serving SMEs. Their unwavering commitment to the SME sector has left a considerable impact on this crucial segment of the economy, positioning them as outstanding leaders in the realm of SME banking. Take the opportunity to learn more about these exceptional nominees and be inspired by their steadfast dedication to serving SMEs!
Dominic Provençal is the Head of Business Banking at the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB). Fueled by a deep passion for entrepreneurship, he wants to make a difference in the SME world. For the past 5 years, he has been actively working towards strengthening the SME ecosystem while recognising entrepreneurs' need for adaptability and responsiveness. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Manchester and is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA).
Complementing his extensive 25-year tenure in the banking sector, marked by pivotal roles across different strategic business units, he concurrently serves directorial roles in several companies, namely MCB Factors, Seed Capital and IFCM Equity Fund.
In the course of your career, what have you seen change in terms of demands/needs of SME clients? And what role should a bank play in meeting these demands?
Over the course of my career, I have witnessed a significant transformation in the expectations and needs of SMEs, spurred on by shifting consumer tastes and the dynamic nature of business environments. One notable shift is the increased tech-savviness among entrepreneurs, who now seek seamless digital solutions for their businesses. There is a growing desire among SMEs for financial independence, reflected in their adoption of our digital offerings. Recognising this trend, our Bank embraced a mobile-first strategy in 2020 to cater to the growing preference for digital interactions.
As their business expands and entrepreneurs structure their operations, I have observed that our SME customers increasingly turn to us for financial advisory services, relying on our expertise to navigate complex financial landscapes, and help them make the best financial commitment for their business.
To meet these evolving demands, it is imperative that as a bank, we stay not only responsive but proactive. We have adopted a customer-centric approach, ensuring that we stay close to our clients through regular customer discoveries and feedback mechanisms. Our mobile banking app also serves as a valuable tool for collecting instant pulse, facilitating a proactive engagement with our SME clients. This commitment to customer-centricity is essential for staying relevant in an ever-changing business environment.
In fulfilling our pivotal role as a strategic partner, we prioritise the development of sophisticated products and services meticulously crafted to align with the intricate financial needs of SMEs. We understand the critical importance of being more than just conventional bank; we aspire to be a trusted ally in their growth journey.
What have you found to be effective in leading your SME banking team/in your leadership position?
A combination of having a clear vision, implementing accurate strategies, and following a well-defined roadmap is paramount to achieving success. The support from the top management of the bank has been instrumental, providing a foundation for effective leadership. I reckon that to lead a team effectively, we must cultivate high-performing individuals who are not only skilled but also enthusiastic to make a meaningful impact in our organisation. Along the lines, to sustain motivation and productivity within the team, fostering a high level of engagement is key. Additionally, we use a servant leadership style to unlock potential influence on our organisational processes, break down silos and encourage collaborative teamwork. This approach facilitates change, drives transformation, and increases our positive impact on customers.
In our day-to-day, we embrace agile practices to drive innovation and collaboration. At the heart of our innovation methodology is the test-and-learn strategy, allowing us to conduct controlled experiments with new ideas, products, and services. And, by verifying assumptions, learning from results, and iterating quickly, we identify the most effective ways to best serve our SME clients.
Maintaining proximity with our SME clients is another important tactic in creating distinguished offerings. By actively listening to their needs and involving them in the product development process, we ensure that our solutions align precisely with their requirements. This not only helps us build long-term relationships but also provides tailored value where it is most needed.
Briefly describe, what would be your top 3 achievements/ projects delivered by your bank for SME customers?
Since launching the new operating model, Business Banking has tabled its growth on its ambitious digital transformation, improving customer experience especially around high-friction touchpoints and a coherent sustainable focus. Under each of these themes, the following three achievements are important for me to name:
Mobile-first focus: The experience of launching MCB JuicePro, the first dedicated mobile banking application on the local market catering for entrepreneurs’ banking needs, comes foremost, as it cemented the vision we had for an accessible service channel as part of our mobile-first vision. Through this channel, clients have instant access to their bank accounts, can perform transactions, both locally and internationally, and even sign loan agreements without having to move to our branches or calling the Bank, at their own convenience. True to the vision for seamless on-the-go banking, the app is designed to help our multi-tasking SME customers with key features such as : account, loans and transactions dashboards, make payments locally and internationally, manage their cards and register to start accepting payments.
We have reached more than 75% of our customer base since the launch, with a active usage rate of 75%, and plan to reach 85% of our customers by end of June 2024. This unprecedented adoption rate is backed by a roadmap of many value-adding features and a track record of significant feature releases every quarter.
Enhancing the lending process: Another milestone for our bank is the successful implementation of our SME digital lending project, positioning us as the first bank to enable SMEs to apply for an unsecured facility, known as Express Overdraft, through their mobile banking app. This revolutionary initiative has streamlined the loan application process, providing SMEs with quick access to funds with most clients realising their need within 2 business days. Achieving this level of efficiency required the mobilisation of diverse teams across the bank, disrupting traditional workflows, and establishing a distinctive credit scoring system powered by AI. The remarkable Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) rating of 97.4 for Express Overdraft serves as a testament of being the most cherished product of our SME customers.
Powering the local economy through entrepreneurship: Our commitment to supporting local businesses extends beyond banking through our 'Lokal is Beautiful' commitment, specifically around how we can support Mauritius’ economy towards more circularity, encourage local manufacturing and adoption of smart technologies. To engage the community of Mauritian entrepreneurs around this sustainable vision, we launched Punch.mu, the country's first B2B platform centered around the Mauritian SMEs’ need. The platform provides an eco-system conducive to enhanced networking, access to business knowledge, and to markets that can power their growth. The defining feature of the platform was that it was co-developed with a local start-up which was in line of creating a platform by entrepreneurs for entrepreuneurs ,thereby avoiding the bias we might have as bankers of the real needs of SMEs. This co-creation led to this platform where entrepreneurs can connect online, share knowledge and resources, unlock new business opportunities and also facilitate engagement through dedicated physical events. It has been interesting to see the journey of Punch.mu becoming a powerful tool in our endeavours to forge a robust and interconnected SME ecosystem and relate with our customers not only on their financial needs but also on their business needs.
What would be the most significant business case that you've applied and learned the most out of it? Both positively or negatively?
Our SME digital lending project has been both enlightening and transformative for my team and me. The presumption had hitherto been that SMEs are inherently risky, but we were confident that by reinforcing our data capabilities, we will be able to test, and eventually challenge this assumption. Indeed, to envision a game-changing lean process but sound in risk management, we took a zero-based design approach, exploring how data analytics and AI can create a credit model that can bring about a completely new offering with no existing counterpart. After extensive cross-functional collaboration, the credit model as well as a light workflow enabled us to push on our mobile banking app, the first unsecured facility for SMEs in Mauritius, with an initial TAT expectation of under 5 business days.
We quickly learned that the quality of data is just as crucial as its availability. This realisation underscored the value of advocating for high quality, clean data in every facet of our initiatives. The new process secured buy-in from key stakeholders, involved extensive coordination among various teams in different business units, from front-facing teams to Compliance, Risk, Legal as well as stakeholders external to the Bank and entailed a substantial change management initiative.
The adoption of agile practices proved instrumental not only to carry our change management efforts but also in establishing good governance and effective communication throughout the initiative. Unlike traditional waterfall directives, agile methodologies enabled us to adapt, flag issues, and determine the right actions in a timely manner, by putting people first, not process. Equally, a key learning was uncovered upon the product launch when we observed an initial low level of adoption despite extensive marketing efforts. Our investigations revealed that despite the digital nature of our end-to-end solution, when it comes to SME financing products, the 'human element' is determinant. This revelation hence highlighted the importance of human touch, even in a digital landscape, drawing parallels with how digital companies maintain physical locations globally to sustain their operations. This valuable experience has reshaped our ‘phygital’ approach, emphasising the need for a balanced integration of technology and personal interaction in creating successful solutions for our SME customers.
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