How to Build a Bank: The justbank story
Whilst Brexit hasn’t exactly been a positive event, we can’t deny that it’s also been the catalyst for diversification and change. It was a true ‘before and after’ moment that made businesses rethink their strategies and, in many cases, change their direction of travel. Gibraltar’s newest bank, justbank, is born from this process. As well as heralding the arrival of a new bank, this fresh start gave the team at IDT Finance the opportunity to create innovative and tailored banking solutions from the ground up. I met with Managing Director, Damian Asquez, and Head of Corporate Banking, Nikolai Gafan, to find out more.
DR: justbank is a new proposition in Gibraltar, but actually how new is it?
DA: justbank is a totally new and unique banking proposition to Gibraltar, but we’ve actually been a fully licensed bank since 2006, operating under IDT Finance. We’ve mainly been serving international clients, and never actually done business in Gibraltar, so understandably, we aren’t that well-known in the local market. Our clients have primarily been based in the UK and Europe. Our banking licence has allowed us to issue electronic money, operating what is known as the BIN sponsorship model. This essentially allows companies that want to enter the financial regulated space to piggyback on our Mastercard and Visa licences and offer payment solutions to their target market. For example, a company may be offering businesses an app that allows employers to manage their employee’s expenses efficiently and may choose to add a debit or prepaid card to enhance their value proposition, what is known as a corporate expense card. This is where we come in and we’ve been doing this very successfully now for over 18 years.
DR: When did you decide to launch justbank?
DA: We evaluated our strategic options during the summer of 2021, and it soon became apparent that expanding our banking permissions to provide banking services in Gibraltar, and eventually in the UK, would be a natural evolution of our business. It is also complimentary to our e-money services. The first thing we did was to hire a marketing consultant who evaluated the Gibraltar and UK banking market and identified several gaps. We then sought the assistance of a skilled individual with relevant banking and operational experience to help us put together a business plan that we could then present to our US based parent, IDT Corporation, a company listed on the NYSE. It was extremely important to get their buy-in in order to secure the funding required to support our ambitious plans.
DR: How did the pitch go?
DA: It was a great moment – it was kind of the first time that our Chairman and I were really going to the US asking for investment – I’m an accountant by profession so naturally I included a lot of numbers and financial details in this big presentation. Interestingly, and much to my surprise, our US-based Board of Directors weren’t that interested in the numbers, they were keen to hear all about our story, Gibraltar’s potential and the demand for new banking services to the business community on The Rock! The pitch, therefore, turned out to be a pitch about Gibraltar, the unique opportunities and the position we are in. Following Brexit, they were also keen to better understand our opportunity to access the UK market at some point in the future. They totally understood our pitch and trusted the strength of our business plan enough to agree to finance the expansion of the existing banking licence!
DR: What happened next?
DA: Once we had the green light from the US we switched to project mode. Our focus was now turned to making the new bank a reality and recruiting the right people to get the job done. That’s when we approached Nikolai about joining us to develop our product proposition. The reason we employed Nikolai so early on was to leverage his long standing and intimate knowledge of the local business banking environment and ensure that client feedback be at the heart of every design decision from day one. So essentially, it’s been about designing a total banking experience that clients have been asking for and need.
NG: Absolutely! The client has been at the centre of our plans from the start. I’ve been working in banking locally for nearly 30 years now. I’ve had to draw on personal skills and experiences going back to my original professional background in project management and IT and develop things like detailed user procedure manuals, process mapping, policies, terms and conditions and development of the justbank brand. It was tremendously exciting because it’s given me an opportunity to be part of an energetic, passionate and dynamic team involved in building something new, something different.
We’ve also drawn a lot of inspiration from our E-Money clients. They are all innovators in terms of products, systems and the way they focus on delivering solutions for their clients.
DR: There’s a lot to do, do you ever get overwhelmed?
NG: Launching a new bank from scratch is no easy task! The project is huge in terms of complexity and expectations. It has an incredible number of working parts involving numerous individuals, organisations, service providers, regulators, technical experts and most importantly our clients who have been a key part of our journey! Given this backdrop, you need to take it one step at a time, and ensure that whatever it is you’re working on is done properly to minimise any risks etc. Fortunately, we’re on track and have a lot of support from our team. You get to focus on one thing and then you take it to the next level and build on that! Our aim is to implement things gradually and in a very phased and controlled manner and that by the end of this year everything should be in place for our clients…
DA: Yes, we’ve done everything in a very, very phased manner and we’re steadily rolling out the path that we mapped out – there’s a commitment to our clients and also, we need to say that the GFSC have been very supportive. Yes, they’ve asked questions. Yes, they’ve come to audit us, rightly so, but the banking team have been very supportive, allowing us to move at our pace. A new bank for Gibraltar is a very significant event for the jurisdiction as it increases choice and generates competition, something which benefits clients ultimately.
DR: Give me an example of what makes justbank different from other banks
NG: One area where we’ve focussed on is the client experience. Take the onboarding process for example, from the client’s perspective it is often a complicated and time-consuming process. As a financial services provider, we need to balance our duty to meet our regulatory and legal obligations with the client’s own needs to have accounts opened in an acceptable timescale. Being clients of other banks ourselves we are all too aware of how long account opening can take – sometimes running into months or even years! That for us is totally unacceptable and we have focused a lot of our efforts in perfecting our onboarding process as much as possible. Our aim is to transform the banking experience for our clients by leveraging the technology that’s out there to make the onboarding process as quick and painless as possible, by keeping things simple, clear and relevant. It is really down to making sure that our clients know exactly what they need to provide in support of their application and also our expectations on the quality of what is being submitted! We are here to support our clients and more than happy to assist in completing the applications with them, with the idea, once again of making the process as smooth and quick as possible. We’ve already been able to prove our own processes and onboarded a local business client with a simple ownership structure in under 24 hours! We’ve also onboarded a local company manager with a far more complex ownership structure in under 3 days!
If clients want to speak to us regarding opening a business account with us, all they have to do is complete the expression of interest form.
DR: What’s the response been like from Gibraltar’s business community?
NG: Tremendously positive. We’ve already met with numerous clients and their feedback and support is fantastic. Our conversations in formal (and informal) settings are proving that there is plenty of room locally for additional banking services, particularly in the business banking space.
DA: Totally, I think there was always an expectation that a larger international bank would eventually come to Gibraltar to offer services, but that has never happened! So, when an existing local business starts up a new bank, it’s a big deal! Even more so when we are focusing on supporting the local business community by providing business banking accounts. Our clients are our best source of learning, and their feedback is invaluable in tweaking and perfecting processes, products and services. In terms of services, we are rolling out our online banking system as we speak and are already able to receive and make GBP (Sterling) Faster and SWIFT payments. Looking ahead we expect to have Business Debit Cards, multi-currency accounts and our mobile banking app by the end of the year. Clients will be supported by dedicated Relationship Managers, so we are aiming to find the right balance by giving a human touch in an increasingly digital world.
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