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NMB Bank has re-opened its Kwekwe branch which was closed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when the economy almost ground to a halt.
The re-opening is testimony of the strong rebound of the economy since the pandemic started to ease last year, and of the early benefits of the government’s deep reforms pursued over the last few years.
Kwekwe sits at the heart of the country’s vast mining industry, which is targeting to grow into a US$12 billion sector per year in the next few years.
Speaking at the re-opening of the branch on Saturday, NMB Bank chief banking officer, Loyd Kazunga, said the bank was packaging together the benefits of both its digitalisation drive, and physical ‘customer-centric’ focus, the latter of which most other banks were running away from.
The strategy involves keeping bank branches in high volume areas to allow physical customer-bank contact, at the same time also offering more digital services to give customers greater banking convenience.
“This opening is to push our strategic thrust on being customer-centric. Though we had closed down our Kwekwe branch, we heed the call from our customers who noted the inconvenience the closure brought,” Kazunga said.
“Though we had closed off and focused our thrust on digital financial services, our consumers still need to walk into our banking halls and get their financial services.
“Kwekwe is a prime location, as the hub of mining and agriculture, the city serves not only Kwekwe residents but neighbouring communities. This alone compelled us to come back and open a branch,” he added.
But he said the bank’s digitalisation drive will also continue as this made it possible for NMB Bank to offer financial services even to the unbanked.
“As a bank, we are currently undergoing a digital transformation journey that we embarked on in 2020. The Covid 19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for our digitalization as we had to serve our clients in a closed world,” Kazunga said.
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