Banking and telecommunications businesses in the region are developing digital products to attract the so-called millennials.

Analysts say that consumers between the ages of 18 and 24 spend a lot of time on their digital devices and often check their account balances on their phones instead of visiting a physical bank branch.

Last week, Commercial Bank of Africa launched a digital banking app for young customers, becoming the latest lender to invest in digital platforms. 

“We have to remove the complicated banking stuff; millennials are in need of brevity; most are averse to the traditional bank branch set up,” said Eric Njagi, new business ventures manager at Commercial Bank of Africa at the launch of mobile payment platform Loop.

Apart from allowing customers to carry out regular transactions away from the bank branches, Loop has features that help users track their spending habits.

“The data will not only tell you where your money is going, it will also be used to assess your credit score,” said Mr Njagi. “You get a higher credit score if a transaction is made towards paying rent rather than paying for entertainment.”
Standard Chartered has also introduced digital services for tech-savvy customers.

“Clients are increasingly engaging with the world digitally and expect their banks to keep up; that means delivering easy, convenient solutions via digital channels,” said chief executive Lamin Manjang.

Banks however say that they will still keep the physical branches for clients seeking personalised services.

“We have different products for different clients, we will still open new branches if we see the need to,” said CBA chief executive Jeremy Ngunze.

Telecommunications firm Safaricom has in the meantime come up with Blaze. It includes the Blaze Bonga Points which allow customers to use their loyalty credits to buy items at coffee houses, ice cream joints and at university cafeterias.