Steward Bank says it is cutting staffing levels, after the reconstruction of its holding company EcoCash and a shift to digital banking.
Bank CEO Courage Mashavave says the upgrade of its banking systems, which started in 2021, has allowed the bank to streamline and automate its processes.
“Since 2021, the Bank has been on a digitalisation drive which resulted in the upgrade of its core banking system and the modernisation of its supporting infrastructure, to create capacity for business growth and enhance operational efficiencies by streamlining and automating manual processes,” Mashavave said.
The automation and digitalisation would significantly change the bank’s business model, he says, “rendering some operational processes that require human resources redundant and therefore necessitating the need to streamline headcount”.
The bank is now going through the legal requirements for the job cuts and engaging with staff, Mashavave says. The transition would not affect operations, he added.
Steward Bank joins a long list of banks, in Zimbabwe and globally, that are speeding up a shift to digital banking, where customers now increasingly prefer to do their banking. As a result, banks are trimming their physical footprints and staffing.
In April, shareholders of Econet Wireless and EcoCash Holdings voted to transfer all non-banking assets of EcoCash to Econet Wireless. This left Steward Bank as the sole subsidiary of EcoCash Holdings. Before the transaction, EcoCash’s fintech business, which included mobile money and Steward Bank, accounted for 76% of group revenue.
“Post the Scheme of Reconstruction, the bank, which will be the remaining unit under EcoCash Holdings, is poised to drive a digital banking expansion as it invests in technologies to enhance operational efficiencies and increase the product offering to customers,” EcoCash said in its annual results to February.
