Sep 15, 2020 By Karen Solomon

Banking on Relationships, Building Africa’s Economy

in Digital Transformation, CEO, Financial Services, Leading Through Change

Welcome to another edition of Leading Through Change, our live video conversation series exploring how leaders use software to drive impactful change in various industries. For upcoming interviews: Salesforce.com/Live.

In the latest episode, Standard Bank Group CEO Sim Tshabalala speaks with Salesforce President and Chief Revenue Officer Gavin Patterson about development, values, disruption in financial services, and digital leadership. See the full video below.

Standard Bank is the African continent’s largest asset lender. It’s also the institution behind 75% of sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product. For Tshabalala, economics and finance revolve around the relationships of people, platforms, and opportunity.

Tshabalala thinks of “future-ready” banking as something like a shopping mall that brings many options under one roof. He believes forward-thinking financial institutions bring together buyers, sellers, importers, and exporters, and then play a role in coordinating their mutually-beneficial relationships. Standard Bank anchors its own shop “in the mall,” and provides access to other financial institutions for a fee. Tshabalala calls this model a “platform business.” And he credits keeping the wheels of commerce turning with Salesforce software to help plan, track, and customize their business strategy.

His team of 50,000 embraces continuous education using online learning platform, Trailhead. In 30 days, 860 employees achieved Trailhead’s highest rank, Ranger Status, by earning 100+ badges and 50,000+ points. The company boasts another 9,000 active and engaged learners striving to sharpen their skills. The knowledge employees acquire via the courses helps them serve customers better and, in turn, grow their business.