Rabat – Competition has intensified in the past two years among Moroccan banks to facilitate their customers' access to online financial services, whether it is mobile applications, websites, safer payment options, or the possibility of opening an account remotely with personal finance management tools.
However, the growing reliance on digital financial services has had an impact on traditional bank branches, with their number declining between 2021 and 2022, according to a document issued by the Central Bank of Morocco.
According to the document, 189 bank branches closed their doors last year, and the number moved nationwide from 6065,2021 branches in 5914 to 2022,<> in <>, and the closure targeted in particular agencies affiliated with traditional banks.
The number of conventional banks in Morocco is 19 (with 5715,8 branches), compared to 190 participation banks (9 branches), 13 foreign banks, and <> payment institutions.
The evolution of digitization of banks
A recent study by Sunergia Group on "The Evolution of the Digitization of Moroccan Banks" showed that 73% of Moroccans with a bank account use at least one online banking service, a figure that corresponds to the global average.
Some 18 million Moroccans have at least one bank account, 63% of whom are men and 37% women.
The study compared the level of customer satisfaction with digital banking services between 2020 and 2022, and found that the rate moved from 76% to 91%, and this percentage, which reflects a good satisfaction rate, according to the study, explains the improvement in the level of online banking services provided to customers.
The annual report on the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, issued in coordination between the Central Bank and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, showed an evaluation of the "mobile payment" service, a technology that allows sending money, paying bills and purchases via a smartphone.
According to the report, the number of transactions carried out through this service during 2021 amounted to 4.9 million transactions compared to 1.4 million transactions recorded in 2020, an increase of 242% with a total amount of AED 1.1 billion compared to AED 445 million in 2020, an increase of 151% (the dollar equals 10.21 dirhams).
Analysis of the transaction structure showed the predominance of billing and phone top-up transactions (73% in number and 44% in amount), followed by person-to-person transfers (19% in number and 44% in amount).
189 bank branches closed in Morocco last year (Al Jazeera)
Benefits and disadvantages
In addition to the technological revolution that imposed the digital transformation of many services, the "Covid-19" pandemic played a key and important role in accelerating this transformation, according to what Suleiman Al-Amrani, a researcher in digital transformation, told Al Jazeera Net.
The development of banking services thanks to this technological revolution enabled the consumer to carry out a number of services remotely, as explained to Al Jazeera Net economic and financial analyst Mohamed Jadri, and these services include the performance of bills, bank transfers, access to accounts, payment of checks and cash without the need to move to the banking agency.
Amrani believes that the policies of the Central Bank of Morocco have contributed to the upward trend of digital banking finance, explaining that the "Green Maroc" initiative launched by the Western Central Bank aims to improve money transfer services and reduce their costs, especially by encouraging the use of digital financial services.
The researcher stresses that the digitization of banking services is useful in reducing the effort and effectiveness of transactions for customers, and useful for banks in reducing the burden of managing physical relationships with customers and benefiting from this in their internal work.
However, it is not hidden that there are still negatives that accompany this system and limit its expansion, including the continued high cost of digital banking operations borne by the customer, which does not encourage large segments to normalize with digital finance, and with regard to banks, one of the direct negative effects is that they are forced to reduce the size of their human resources and consequently the number of their agencies.
Whatever the negatives recorded, Al-Amrani stressed that the comprehensive digitization of banking services, including the management of banks' relationships with customers, is inevitable, stressing that the digital banking transformation will achieve the highest indicators of financial efficiency, achieve customer satisfaction, make them free from frequenting agencies and windows, and reduce the risks of cash circulation.
He points to challenges that need to be addressed, including building customer confidence in digital finance, and reducing technical failures that sometimes occur in the work of a group of banks, which harm their customers.
For his part, economic and financial analyst Mohamed Jadri stressed that the digital transition should be accompanied by advertising campaigns to facilitate consumers' access to these services, especially in a Moroccan environment where illiteracy is struck, pointing to the need to educate consumers about the importance of safety measures used and that remote banking services enable to gain time, effort and expenses, in addition to being continuous services throughout the day and night, unlike classic banking services, which remain subject to bank working hours.
Digital migration should be accompanied by advertising campaigns to facilitate consumer access to these services (Getty Images)
Jobs in Banks
Morocco counts about 40 million people and has equipment and infrastructure that entice banks to accelerate digital transformation and compete to diversify their digital services to attract more customers, and according to data from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, the number of mobile phone subscribers at the end of 2020 reached about 49 million subscribers, while the number of Internet subscribers is about 30 million, raising the Internet penetration rate to 83%.
However, the universal digitization of banking services will not be achieved without an impact on the job system, as confirmed by a number of reports.
The number of employees in conventional banks decreased by 2.3% between 2019 and 2021 to about 40,<>, according to the annual report on banking supervision issued by the Central Bank of Morocco.
According to Al-Amrani, the fourth technological revolution, especially artificial intelligence techniques, threatens the demise of millions of jobs in the world and the emergence of millions of new jobs in the next thirty years, as banks today - Amrani adds - are not exempt due to digitization from continuing to revive employment and fight unemployment, but it is necessary to shift to a new employment policy.
In Jadri's view, the impact of digitization on banking functions remains relative, because in exchange for the reduction of employees, especially "customer assignees", many new professions will be created, such as "remote customer assignees", an increase in the number of call center users, as well as the creation of many jobs related to technology, digitization and security.