Convergence as a competitive strategy (a case study of equity bank Kenya)
Abstract
In today’s dynamic business environment, mobile devices have become instrumental
particularly in availing of various innovative business solutions. Convergence from the
banking perspective is a strategy whereby the bank designs or enhances an existing
product by availing it on the platform of a network provider whose core business is
unrelated to banking. It is necessitated by the prevailing technological advancement and
stiff competition from alternate payment services provided by non-banks. It is thus a
means to adapt to changing industry environment.
The aim of this study was to establish ways in which Equity Bank uses convergence with
the various mobile solution providers to gain competitive advantage in the banking
sector. A case study was used and data collected through personal interviews using a
guide. Data was also obtained from the organization’s intranet, reports and other
documents and analyzed using content analysis. The study established that convergence
has been a successful strategy as it has allowed differentiation, grown the revenues and
customer base as well as complementing the bank’s agency model which is the latest
competitive strategy that is being advanced to the market.
In conclusion the objective of the study was achieved and it is evident that convergence
provides a sustainable competitive edge for the bank in the highly competitive and
changing banking industry in Kenya. It is therefore recommended that this strategy be
intensely applied at the Strategic Business Unit level as some of the convergent solutions
were not performing as well as others and had various challenges attached to them
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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