What Leaders Want | CCO at SBS - Raouf Mhenni

Description

"Listening to clients is key. In our world, we tend to make a lot of assumptions — we think we know what they want. But it’s not about thinking; it’s about asking. It’s like any relationship, even with your partner. Sometimes, you just have to ask directly: Are you happy? Unhappy? Clients will usually tell you. And when they do, you can address it."

From Africa to Europe, Raouf brings over 30 years of experience in the software industry — and a fresh perspective on finance as CCO at SBS.

When he took on the role, his financial knowledge didn’t go beyond his monthly bank statement. Four years later, he’s not only passionate about the sector, but deeply committed to making financial services a force for good.

In this episode, Raouf shares how he keeps clients happy, his bold vision for financial inclusion, and why it matters to him that everyone — especially the unbanked — has equal access to money. Because, for Raouf, finance should help improve lives.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Today we'll have a discussion with Raouf Meny, Chief Commercial Officer of SBS. He has around 30 years of experience in the software industry. And today we'll get to know the person and we'll benefit from his expertise in the software industry. Thank you for being with us and sharing your time.
Speaker #1
Thank you. Thank you for having me. And I'm happy to have this discussion with you.
Speaker #0
Tell us about your journey and what inspired you to pursue a career path in FinTech.
Speaker #1
Interesting. I think that I was not inspired to come to the FinTech world. I've been my entire career in the software industry. And four years ago, I was offered the opportunity to join SBS. And prior to that, my relationship to banks was only to read my monthly statement. And I don't believe that I was able to read everything in it and to explain why. my bank was charging me so much every month for managing my account. So prior to that, I didn't know anything about banking. But four years ago, I had the opportunity to jump in. And since, I'm living in a blast. It is an amazing world. So I'm happy being in the fintech industry since.
Speaker #0
If you had to explain your role as a chief commercial officer in just one sentence that even a child would understand, how would you describe your role?
Speaker #1
I would say that my role... is to help my company sell its products and services, to make money and grow. You can think of me as the person who is responsible for making sure that lots of our clients are happy. That's Merrill.
Speaker #0
How do you make sure that they are happy?
Speaker #1
One, listening. Listening to clients. We do a lot of assumptions in our world. We think. In this kind of situation, it's not about thinking. It's about asking directly the question. It is like your relationship with your partner. from time to time you need to ask clearly the question happy and happy and the client will usually let you know and once you know if he's happy it's fine and he can tell you why if he's unhappy he can tell you why and then you can solve it but yeah intensive relationship and strong relationship with the client will help dramatically to identify the satisfaction or the lack of satisfaction talking about the clients what do you enjoy most about working with banks and shaping
Speaker #0
their digital journeys.
Speaker #1
Working with banks gives you the opportunity to see the impact on people. By the end of the day, the banks are helping millions of people to do what they do every day, means to borrow money, to pay for their children's studies, to build the house. So that is the real life. And the banks are allowing that, allowing every single family to realize their projects, allowing people to progress in their life. So if you see yourself easing that work, if you see yourself making that, facilitating that work, making your client with the bank, offering all those services. And when you read the annual report of your client and you see that they are gaining, you know, 3000 new clients, you say, hey, I was part of it. I remember I read an article about KCB in Kenya. He's one of our clients. And the story was the government decided for a loan for every Kenyan citizen. And there is two banks who had to offer that. And one of them were ours, our client. And it was KCB. And KCB had to build the system using our technology. But the beautiful thing is the day they opened, there was like more than a million connections. And you'd say, wow, my technology is allowing maybe millions of people to access that service and to borrow money and... do their business. Yeah, it's having that purpose and that impact on people is the most exciting thing in working with banks.
Speaker #0
In your role, you have to deal a lot with the cloud and digital transformation. But practically speaking, what is really changing for banks and their customers?
Speaker #1
Very complex subject, but I will try to make it simple. Let's agree first on two definitions. I will Talk about innovation and creativity. Innovation is when you use a new way of solving an existing problem. Creativity is when you think out of the box to create a new business model or a new way of doing things. Now, if we put on one side all the new technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, automation, data science, and all that. And on the other side, all the problems or the impossible improvement in the banking industry. Obviously, we're going to find a way that the cloud computing and the artificial intelligence and the data science will be perceived as innovation because they're bringing new ways to solve existing problems, existing problems like cybersecurity. Existing problems like a bad customer experience, maybe a very slow motion when it comes to carrying services for the client, time to market. This technology, cloud computing, will solve the cybersecurity. Having a complete isolated environment where the hyperscalers are taking care of the security of your data is something that is coming to solve an existing problem. Problem exists for years and the new technology will solve it. So we can as well get a better user experience through these digital applications. The problem exists, which is having improved the user experience, and we leverage technology to do it. But by the end of the day, it's the same. The bank is in the branch, and we're using a new application. The example that I would give the parallel is the mobility. You know the G-SET application in the taxi application in Paris. The taxi network exists. which is the same which is a car a driver and you know you can get that catch that taxi in the street then you pay one that they did when the technology came they built an application we used to book the taxi i've been one of those who used to put the taxi by phone and i was calling somebody and asking for a taxi given my address and the taxi would come that was in in the 90s today there is an application so what we did we used the technology to improve an existing user experience uber was a completely different thing Uber reinvented the way we do it. So those are the two. Uber is being creative. The digital app for G7, it is innovating, solving the problem using the technology, or reinventing, recreating completely the business using the technology. So we have both of them, and I think that the banking industry is taking advantage of both. Today, more innovations means that Because maybe the banking industry is regulated, because we cannot reinvent completely the banking business. But the banking industry is taking a huge advantage of these new technologies. Are we seeing or foreseeing a new banking? We don't know. The new neobanks or the digital banks are maybe a creation, a new way of banking for people. It means that I don't have a branch. I don't go to the bank. I don't have... person to talk to is it working yes for maybe digital native people is it making money not yet so i think we're in the middle of it so summary innovation works pretty well creativity we're still waiting for to reinvent the new banking model okay the new way to make the client happy yeah but clients can be happy with the innovation as well my parents and yours used to go to the branch of the bank and say hello to the person in there and then ask about the products and then asking buying services and signing papers and saying goodbye and saying today the same people can interact and get all those services using the app sure with chatbot with fake voice but it still works i don't believe and i don't know if people used to go to the bank to say hello to the banker or to get the service if they if they used to go to say hello to the banker yeah they would be disappointed with the app Now, if they used to go to the bank to get the service and buy the product, they'll be happy. They can get it through the app. So by the end of the day, the users are the ones who will make the decision. So far, digital natives are happy with neobanks. The old users are still happy to go and say hello to the banker.
Speaker #0
In your opinion, which technology will truly revolutionize how we engage with financial services in the coming years?
Speaker #1
It's definitely AI. Definitely. AI will be able to propose new models that will make the experience completely different, reinvent the experience of the users with the banks. AI will as well change the way we perceive our expectations from the banks. In my mind, AI, once it will move from the bank side to the consumer side, will do the revolution. It is like social networking. What happened with Facebook and others? It changed the world because We the consumers are using it, it's not the companies who are using it. So getting AI for every single individual of the world? Oh! I'm curious to see how that will change the world because it is not the bank or the institution or the company who's using AI to propose services to you. It is you who is going throughout the market to pick the right service. So yeah, it's AI. Now I don't believe that AI will be only on one side. I think that AI will end like social networking. Every one of us will have his own AI to navigate through the world, consume, compare, to benchmark. That will change the way we bank and our relationship with banks.
Speaker #0
We use AI in our products, but how do you use AI in your daily work?
Speaker #1
I am a user of ChatGPT. I am a user of Copilot. I started using ChatGPT back in November last year when it was a beta product. So I'm using first ChatGPT for the first nine months of the year. And then I moved to Copilot because it's part of the suite that we're having. So I'm using it to summarize documents. I'm using it also to transcript team meetings when I don't have time to listen to two hours meetings so I can get some. Yeah, it's helping me being more productive. It's helping me also to do smart search on internet so I can ask complex questions. It is not the final thing all the time. I need to rework and reread, but it's helping my daily productivity big time.
Speaker #0
Looking forward. In 10 years, how would you imagine a typical customer journey with this bank?
Speaker #1
My thinking is, I don't believe that there will be a customer journey with a bank. I think that the banking as a service will be embedded in our entire life. Means that we go to the bank to borrow money and then we use the money to buy something. I think that tomorrow it will be 100% you buy something and the money, whether it is borrowed or yours, will be embedded. It will be so integrated into our life. Means that... The bank as we see it today will disappear. Banking is like three, I will talk about the retail banking, it's like three things. It is deposit, it is lending and payments. We go to the bank for one of these three, either to borrow money or to withdraw cash or to deposit money for the bank. But we do all this to live, go to school. to pay our utilities, to pay our rental, and to buy a car, and so on. I do believe that the financial services will be embedded into the real business, integrated into the real business. It means that when you go to buy a car, the financials will happen behind the scenes. You won't see it because there is the services that are delivered either by banks and financial institutions or like Amazon would do it or Apple would do it or Ford or GM would do it. We won't see the banks as we see it today. That is one. Second, I think that the AI helping every one of us will make it real sooner than what we think. Because that would allow you to bank not with your traditional bank, but with whoever will provide you with the appropriate service, the right one, the fastest one, the safest one. And this will be changing. We will never bank. I don't believe that we're going to continue to bank for 10 years. I kept my bank for 25 years. I think tomorrow we can bank with like 10 banks at the same time. One because he's offering the best payment, the other one because the best loans and so on and so forth. And that would be, I think that that would be helped and made easy with technology and AI. We'll meet in 10 years and...
Speaker #0
Sure. We're talking today about banking is local since the closer you are with your... clients the better for your bunk so if i follow what you're saying that won't exist in 10 years this proximity with the with clients since the client won't have only one bunk but just providers for whatever services they want to deal with it happened it happened for shoes it happened for we used to buy shoes from one
Speaker #1
boutique in in your city then we went to the retailers stores and now we're buying from Amazon, God knows from whom we're buying the thing, we've seen it on the internet, we don't know who made it, where is it, but we're buying from people we don't know, but there is a trust on the platform. If tomorrow there is a trust, you're gonna lend money from whoever and you can get payment from whoever. It is the thing that is preventing today that from happen is the regulation because the banks are part of the state organization and governance but it is a product like another like you're connecting on your amazon and you're buying a shirt or you're buying tomorrow you can you can yet borrow money from whoever or paying get payment method. I do believe that we're going there.
Speaker #0
How do you stay ahead of market trends and anticipate what's next in your role?
Speaker #1
It's difficult to keep ahead of the market. I would say keep up with the market is a big thing to do. I'm reading a lot. I'm a good reader of a lot of articles. I watch a lot of videos on different subjects. But again, my motivation is to keep up, not with the market, but with the industry itself. that is the thing that helps me so i have a routine of every weekend i have to have my weekend reading and yeah so far i'm keeping up is there a recent innovation at sbs that you're particularly proud of yes um recently we introduced to the market the daily banking suite which is the one of the product of the digital engagement business unit And yeah, I'm proud of it because it confirms to the market our ability to deliver a cutting-edge technology. Being at SBS with a long history and long relationship with our client may make people think that we're an old company. So bringing to the market the cutting-edge technology with this digital engagement layer that would allow our client to use the best technology ever to engage their client, to onboard them and to offer them the best services. Yeah, proud of it because that will help renew the trust with our client of 10 and 15 and 20 years. They will have that feeling of yes, I can continue working with SPS because not only SPS is delivering great service so far, but they're innovating to allow me as a banker to keep up with the competition. So yeah, very proud of it.
Speaker #0
And on another note. What makes you proud in your daily work?
Speaker #1
Ah, that is a tough question. I'm passionate about what I'm doing. So I won't exaggerate. I like what I'm doing. And it is exciting when you have customer feedback or an employee feedback. One of your team will tell you that he's happy and he's proud of what he's doing. Make you even prouder. A client will tell you, thank you very much for what you did. Ah, you made my day. So yeah, my happiness and satisfaction are my team members or a client who is recognizing the good work we're doing.
Speaker #0
Is there a bold idea or dream technology you'd love to see come to life in the industry?
Speaker #1
Yeah, there is one. I don't know if it is a bold technology, but it's a solution. I would love for all the people that are not banked today to have the opportunity, the equal opportunity to access money. People in Africa, millions are not banked. So financial inclusion is something that should be pursued. So I would love to see a system that would allow people to get maybe minimum money. but equal to all of us means that they can realize their projects, they can work, they can fund their small project and maybe that will come through crowdfunding. Maybe all of us will work together to put the money for all of us and I don't underestimate the force of all of us. So yeah, I dream to see all of us crowdfunding so that the people who have no access today to banks Because banks are for rich people and the poor people, they don't have access to credit cards and Visa, MasterCard and others. They don't. But if we want to have a better world, I think that we need to give access to those guys. And maybe if every one of us will contribute to that system that would allow others to take advantage of it, yeah, it would be a better world.
Speaker #0
What would it take to get that dream come true?
Speaker #1
Technology would help. I think that we're coming to a level of technology that would allow that to happen. Now, I think that, yeah, it should be an initiative, people initiative by the end of the day and regulators to let it go. Because today, the regulators will never let other than banks borrowing money. So there's a lot of constraints by the regulation that things will evolve.
Speaker #0
I hope your dream will come true.
Speaker #1
I hope so.
Speaker #0
If you could sum up. the future of financial services in one word or one sentence? I know it's tricky, but what would it be?
Speaker #1
Financial services in the future should enable better lives for people. The financial services and the banks used to be an economy enabler. It should become more towards consumers to make their lives easier and to live better. to do things faster and easier.
Speaker #0
If you could give a piece of advice to someone starting out in the fintech industry, what would it be?
Speaker #1
Be curious. The space is so large that there is a lot to discover. And then focus on what you like to do. By the end of the day, whether it is fintech industry or any other industry, the passion and the excitement about what we are doing, what we'd like to do, will make a difference. So, yeah. This is the advice I would give to my own children. It says, yeah, be curious, but focus on what you love to do. French says, if you do what you like, you will never work a day. So literally, I'm translating it. But yeah, that is what I would wish for everyone.
Speaker #0
And as you were saying earlier, as a commercial, you have to be passionate. Otherwise, people won't buy it.
Speaker #1
Passion is part of it. I mean, again, if you like what you do, you don't have to say it. I mean, you can feel it. You can see it. The people around you will notice that you have that passion for the work you're doing, for the field you're working on.
Speaker #0
Good to know. And last but not least, and I'm asking you this question since you're a leader yourself, what do you think leaders truly want?
Speaker #1
Purpose and impact. I think all the leaders would like to impact and to give a purpose to what they're doing. by what they're doing themselves or what they're making their teams doing, every one of us is trying to impact others positively. Do better in the societies, in the countries, in the community where we live, in the companies, and give a purpose to what we're doing. It means that coming in the morning and being excited about the day because you know you're going to do something worth it.
Speaker #0
What impact do you want to have?
Speaker #1
better life for poor people, big time. Listen, I'm coming from Africa. I know pretty well what is making the difference. And today we cannot have a safer and better world without helping all who need. They don't need charity. They need opportunities. We need to give opportunities to all the world.
Speaker #0
Thank you, Raoul, for sharing your time and being with us.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me. Thank you for a good discussion.

Description

From Africa to Europe, Raouf brings over 30 years of experience in the software industry — and a fresh perspective on finance as CCO at SBS.

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Today we'll have a discussion with Raouf Meny, Chief Commercial Officer of SBS. He has around 30 years of experience in the software industry. And today we'll get to know the person and we'll benefit from his expertise in the software industry. Thank you for being with us and sharing your time.
Speaker #1
Thank you. Thank you for having me. And I'm happy to have this discussion with you.
Speaker #0
Tell us about your journey and what inspired you to pursue a career path in FinTech.
Speaker #1
Interesting. I think that I was not inspired to come to the FinTech world. I've been my entire career in the software industry. And four years ago, I was offered the opportunity to join SBS. And prior to that, my relationship to banks was only to read my monthly statement. And I don't believe that I was able to read everything in it and to explain why. my bank was charging me so much every month for managing my account. So prior to that, I didn't know anything about banking. But four years ago, I had the opportunity to jump in. And since, I'm living in a blast. It is an amazing world. So I'm happy being in the fintech industry since.
Speaker #0
If you had to explain your role as a chief commercial officer in just one sentence that even a child would understand, how would you describe your role?
Speaker #1
I would say that my role... is to help my company sell its products and services, to make money and grow. You can think of me as the person who is responsible for making sure that lots of our clients are happy. That's Merrill.
Speaker #0
How do you make sure that they are happy?
Speaker #1
One, listening. Listening to clients. We do a lot of assumptions in our world. We think. In this kind of situation, it's not about thinking. It's about asking directly the question. It is like your relationship with your partner. from time to time you need to ask clearly the question happy and happy and the client will usually let you know and once you know if he's happy it's fine and he can tell you why if he's unhappy he can tell you why and then you can solve it but yeah intensive relationship and strong relationship with the client will help dramatically to identify the satisfaction or the lack of satisfaction talking about the clients what do you enjoy most about working with banks and shaping
Speaker #0
their digital journeys.
Speaker #1
Working with banks gives you the opportunity to see the impact on people. By the end of the day, the banks are helping millions of people to do what they do every day, means to borrow money, to pay for their children's studies, to build the house. So that is the real life. And the banks are allowing that, allowing every single family to realize their projects, allowing people to progress in their life. So if you see yourself easing that work, if you see yourself making that, facilitating that work, making your client with the bank, offering all those services. And when you read the annual report of your client and you see that they are gaining, you know, 3000 new clients, you say, hey, I was part of it. I remember I read an article about KCB in Kenya. He's one of our clients. And the story was the government decided for a loan for every Kenyan citizen. And there is two banks who had to offer that. And one of them were ours, our client. And it was KCB. And KCB had to build the system using our technology. But the beautiful thing is the day they opened, there was like more than a million connections. And you'd say, wow, my technology is allowing maybe millions of people to access that service and to borrow money and... do their business. Yeah, it's having that purpose and that impact on people is the most exciting thing in working with banks.
Speaker #0
In your role, you have to deal a lot with the cloud and digital transformation. But practically speaking, what is really changing for banks and their customers?
Speaker #1
Very complex subject, but I will try to make it simple. Let's agree first on two definitions. I will Talk about innovation and creativity. Innovation is when you use a new way of solving an existing problem. Creativity is when you think out of the box to create a new business model or a new way of doing things. Now, if we put on one side all the new technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, automation, data science, and all that. And on the other side, all the problems or the impossible improvement in the banking industry. Obviously, we're going to find a way that the cloud computing and the artificial intelligence and the data science will be perceived as innovation because they're bringing new ways to solve existing problems, existing problems like cybersecurity. Existing problems like a bad customer experience, maybe a very slow motion when it comes to carrying services for the client, time to market. This technology, cloud computing, will solve the cybersecurity. Having a complete isolated environment where the hyperscalers are taking care of the security of your data is something that is coming to solve an existing problem. Problem exists for years and the new technology will solve it. So we can as well get a better user experience through these digital applications. The problem exists, which is having improved the user experience, and we leverage technology to do it. But by the end of the day, it's the same. The bank is in the branch, and we're using a new application. The example that I would give the parallel is the mobility. You know the G-SET application in the taxi application in Paris. The taxi network exists. which is the same which is a car a driver and you know you can get that catch that taxi in the street then you pay one that they did when the technology came they built an application we used to book the taxi i've been one of those who used to put the taxi by phone and i was calling somebody and asking for a taxi given my address and the taxi would come that was in in the 90s today there is an application so what we did we used the technology to improve an existing user experience uber was a completely different thing Uber reinvented the way we do it. So those are the two. Uber is being creative. The digital app for G7, it is innovating, solving the problem using the technology, or reinventing, recreating completely the business using the technology. So we have both of them, and I think that the banking industry is taking advantage of both. Today, more innovations means that Because maybe the banking industry is regulated, because we cannot reinvent completely the banking business. But the banking industry is taking a huge advantage of these new technologies. Are we seeing or foreseeing a new banking? We don't know. The new neobanks or the digital banks are maybe a creation, a new way of banking for people. It means that I don't have a branch. I don't go to the bank. I don't have... person to talk to is it working yes for maybe digital native people is it making money not yet so i think we're in the middle of it so summary innovation works pretty well creativity we're still waiting for to reinvent the new banking model okay the new way to make the client happy yeah but clients can be happy with the innovation as well my parents and yours used to go to the branch of the bank and say hello to the person in there and then ask about the products and then asking buying services and signing papers and saying goodbye and saying today the same people can interact and get all those services using the app sure with chatbot with fake voice but it still works i don't believe and i don't know if people used to go to the bank to say hello to the banker or to get the service if they if they used to go to say hello to the banker yeah they would be disappointed with the app Now, if they used to go to the bank to get the service and buy the product, they'll be happy. They can get it through the app. So by the end of the day, the users are the ones who will make the decision. So far, digital natives are happy with neobanks. The old users are still happy to go and say hello to the banker.
Speaker #0
In your opinion, which technology will truly revolutionize how we engage with financial services in the coming years?
Speaker #1
It's definitely AI. Definitely. AI will be able to propose new models that will make the experience completely different, reinvent the experience of the users with the banks. AI will as well change the way we perceive our expectations from the banks. In my mind, AI, once it will move from the bank side to the consumer side, will do the revolution. It is like social networking. What happened with Facebook and others? It changed the world because We the consumers are using it, it's not the companies who are using it. So getting AI for every single individual of the world? Oh! I'm curious to see how that will change the world because it is not the bank or the institution or the company who's using AI to propose services to you. It is you who is going throughout the market to pick the right service. So yeah, it's AI. Now I don't believe that AI will be only on one side. I think that AI will end like social networking. Every one of us will have his own AI to navigate through the world, consume, compare, to benchmark. That will change the way we bank and our relationship with banks.
Speaker #0
We use AI in our products, but how do you use AI in your daily work?
Speaker #1
I am a user of ChatGPT. I am a user of Copilot. I started using ChatGPT back in November last year when it was a beta product. So I'm using first ChatGPT for the first nine months of the year. And then I moved to Copilot because it's part of the suite that we're having. So I'm using it to summarize documents. I'm using it also to transcript team meetings when I don't have time to listen to two hours meetings so I can get some. Yeah, it's helping me being more productive. It's helping me also to do smart search on internet so I can ask complex questions. It is not the final thing all the time. I need to rework and reread, but it's helping my daily productivity big time.
Speaker #0
Looking forward. In 10 years, how would you imagine a typical customer journey with this bank?
Speaker #1
My thinking is, I don't believe that there will be a customer journey with a bank. I think that the banking as a service will be embedded in our entire life. Means that we go to the bank to borrow money and then we use the money to buy something. I think that tomorrow it will be 100% you buy something and the money, whether it is borrowed or yours, will be embedded. It will be so integrated into our life. Means that... The bank as we see it today will disappear. Banking is like three, I will talk about the retail banking, it's like three things. It is deposit, it is lending and payments. We go to the bank for one of these three, either to borrow money or to withdraw cash or to deposit money for the bank. But we do all this to live, go to school. to pay our utilities, to pay our rental, and to buy a car, and so on. I do believe that the financial services will be embedded into the real business, integrated into the real business. It means that when you go to buy a car, the financials will happen behind the scenes. You won't see it because there is the services that are delivered either by banks and financial institutions or like Amazon would do it or Apple would do it or Ford or GM would do it. We won't see the banks as we see it today. That is one. Second, I think that the AI helping every one of us will make it real sooner than what we think. Because that would allow you to bank not with your traditional bank, but with whoever will provide you with the appropriate service, the right one, the fastest one, the safest one. And this will be changing. We will never bank. I don't believe that we're going to continue to bank for 10 years. I kept my bank for 25 years. I think tomorrow we can bank with like 10 banks at the same time. One because he's offering the best payment, the other one because the best loans and so on and so forth. And that would be, I think that that would be helped and made easy with technology and AI. We'll meet in 10 years and...
Speaker #0
Sure. We're talking today about banking is local since the closer you are with your... clients the better for your bunk so if i follow what you're saying that won't exist in 10 years this proximity with the with clients since the client won't have only one bunk but just providers for whatever services they want to deal with it happened it happened for shoes it happened for we used to buy shoes from one
Speaker #1
boutique in in your city then we went to the retailers stores and now we're buying from Amazon, God knows from whom we're buying the thing, we've seen it on the internet, we don't know who made it, where is it, but we're buying from people we don't know, but there is a trust on the platform. If tomorrow there is a trust, you're gonna lend money from whoever and you can get payment from whoever. It is the thing that is preventing today that from happen is the regulation because the banks are part of the state organization and governance but it is a product like another like you're connecting on your amazon and you're buying a shirt or you're buying tomorrow you can you can yet borrow money from whoever or paying get payment method. I do believe that we're going there.
Speaker #0
How do you stay ahead of market trends and anticipate what's next in your role?
Speaker #1
It's difficult to keep ahead of the market. I would say keep up with the market is a big thing to do. I'm reading a lot. I'm a good reader of a lot of articles. I watch a lot of videos on different subjects. But again, my motivation is to keep up, not with the market, but with the industry itself. that is the thing that helps me so i have a routine of every weekend i have to have my weekend reading and yeah so far i'm keeping up is there a recent innovation at sbs that you're particularly proud of yes um recently we introduced to the market the daily banking suite which is the one of the product of the digital engagement business unit And yeah, I'm proud of it because it confirms to the market our ability to deliver a cutting-edge technology. Being at SBS with a long history and long relationship with our client may make people think that we're an old company. So bringing to the market the cutting-edge technology with this digital engagement layer that would allow our client to use the best technology ever to engage their client, to onboard them and to offer them the best services. Yeah, proud of it because that will help renew the trust with our client of 10 and 15 and 20 years. They will have that feeling of yes, I can continue working with SPS because not only SPS is delivering great service so far, but they're innovating to allow me as a banker to keep up with the competition. So yeah, very proud of it.
Speaker #0
And on another note. What makes you proud in your daily work?
Speaker #1
Ah, that is a tough question. I'm passionate about what I'm doing. So I won't exaggerate. I like what I'm doing. And it is exciting when you have customer feedback or an employee feedback. One of your team will tell you that he's happy and he's proud of what he's doing. Make you even prouder. A client will tell you, thank you very much for what you did. Ah, you made my day. So yeah, my happiness and satisfaction are my team members or a client who is recognizing the good work we're doing.
Speaker #0
Is there a bold idea or dream technology you'd love to see come to life in the industry?
Speaker #1
Yeah, there is one. I don't know if it is a bold technology, but it's a solution. I would love for all the people that are not banked today to have the opportunity, the equal opportunity to access money. People in Africa, millions are not banked. So financial inclusion is something that should be pursued. So I would love to see a system that would allow people to get maybe minimum money. but equal to all of us means that they can realize their projects, they can work, they can fund their small project and maybe that will come through crowdfunding. Maybe all of us will work together to put the money for all of us and I don't underestimate the force of all of us. So yeah, I dream to see all of us crowdfunding so that the people who have no access today to banks Because banks are for rich people and the poor people, they don't have access to credit cards and Visa, MasterCard and others. They don't. But if we want to have a better world, I think that we need to give access to those guys. And maybe if every one of us will contribute to that system that would allow others to take advantage of it, yeah, it would be a better world.
Speaker #0
What would it take to get that dream come true?
Speaker #1
Technology would help. I think that we're coming to a level of technology that would allow that to happen. Now, I think that, yeah, it should be an initiative, people initiative by the end of the day and regulators to let it go. Because today, the regulators will never let other than banks borrowing money. So there's a lot of constraints by the regulation that things will evolve.
Speaker #0
I hope your dream will come true.
Speaker #1
I hope so.
Speaker #0
If you could sum up. the future of financial services in one word or one sentence? I know it's tricky, but what would it be?
Speaker #1
Financial services in the future should enable better lives for people. The financial services and the banks used to be an economy enabler. It should become more towards consumers to make their lives easier and to live better. to do things faster and easier.
Speaker #0
If you could give a piece of advice to someone starting out in the fintech industry, what would it be?
Speaker #1
Be curious. The space is so large that there is a lot to discover. And then focus on what you like to do. By the end of the day, whether it is fintech industry or any other industry, the passion and the excitement about what we are doing, what we'd like to do, will make a difference. So, yeah. This is the advice I would give to my own children. It says, yeah, be curious, but focus on what you love to do. French says, if you do what you like, you will never work a day. So literally, I'm translating it. But yeah, that is what I would wish for everyone.
Speaker #0
And as you were saying earlier, as a commercial, you have to be passionate. Otherwise, people won't buy it.
Speaker #1
Passion is part of it. I mean, again, if you like what you do, you don't have to say it. I mean, you can feel it. You can see it. The people around you will notice that you have that passion for the work you're doing, for the field you're working on.
Speaker #0
Good to know. And last but not least, and I'm asking you this question since you're a leader yourself, what do you think leaders truly want?
Speaker #1
Purpose and impact. I think all the leaders would like to impact and to give a purpose to what they're doing. by what they're doing themselves or what they're making their teams doing, every one of us is trying to impact others positively. Do better in the societies, in the countries, in the community where we live, in the companies, and give a purpose to what we're doing. It means that coming in the morning and being excited about the day because you know you're going to do something worth it.
Speaker #0
What impact do you want to have?
Speaker #1
better life for poor people, big time. Listen, I'm coming from Africa. I know pretty well what is making the difference. And today we cannot have a safer and better world without helping all who need. They don't need charity. They need opportunities. We need to give opportunities to all the world.
Speaker #0
Thank you, Raoul, for sharing your time and being with us.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me. Thank you for a good discussion.

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