2 MIN INTERVIEW WITH ALESSANDRO COLAFRANCESCHI, FORMER EXECUTIVE AT STANDARD BANK

Alessandro Colafranceschi, former Executive Head of Digital Banking at Standard Bank

Q1. How would you summarise the impact of digital on financial services?

I believe the most critical impact is the shift from branch to self-service. Customers are not walking into the branch anymore and, as a result, banks are losing touch with their clients. The truth is that digital is immensely amplyfing the interactions between consumers and brands (banking customers enter the ‘mobile branch’ three or four times a week!), and this offers an exciting new opportunity to engage with clients and listen to their needs and what really matters to them. Digital is all about creating valuable conversations and interactions

Q2. What distinctions of the Vanguard Method positively impact delivering benefit (from Digital)?

Vanguard taught me a very powerful way to go from ‘doing things better’ to ‘doing better things’, which means truly designing purpose and management thinking around the customer and for the customer. What really matters to customers is the North Star for the journey and the entire business. There are so many people – including me – talking about the outside-in approach, but I only saw what it truly means when we went through the whole process together with Vanguard.

Q3. Why did you agree to speak on May 16th?

First of all, I enjoyed working with Vanguard’s team. I learnt a lot, and we achieved a lot. I spent 20 years in digital banking and digital transformation in different industries and in different countries. My team and I have been cooking in the ‘digital kitchen’ for a long time, we burnt our fingers many times and we learned how to prepare great recipes. I like to share my experiences, my learnings with the people on the same journey. I have seen magic, I learnt digital transformation is possible if it is approached with the right people and the right method – and with a strong heart and mind.