Digital Transformation for SME Banks

Digital economy has brought about new technological competencies that have made it possible for banks to embark on digitalization of processes and digital transformation implementation across their product offerings. From digitization to digitalization and then digital transformation, technological advancement is slowly making traditional boundaries disappear. In such unprecedented volatility and market regulatory turmoil banks are rethinking banking and have begun introducing banking platforms that will be based on hyperconnectivity; supercomputing; cloud computing; robotics; embedded sensors and cyber security. Digitization has been an ongoing process, where moving everything analog to digital has always been seen as the main objective and much of that has been completed. Nevertheless, the process aspect of digitization and digital transformation is still very much work in progress. This research examines how process transformation can shape the future of Small and medium (SME) banking and provide an overarching framework for digital transformation in SME banking. Six groups of stakeholders provided insightful feedback which led to the proposed building blocks necessary for this idea to succeed. The paper highlights the following technological structure to be established; 1) digital scoreboard, 2) digital onboarding, 3) digital marketplace, 4) digital roadmap, 5) digital ombudsman, and 6) digital entrepreneurship as pillars for SME banking framework. This paper also suggests issues and challenges that need to be overcome with specific case examples to ensure the success of the six core areas mentioned.