IS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUFFICIENT FOR ASSURING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN BANKING?
INTRODUCTION Having just participated in a very helpful Business Times Breakfast Roundtable on ICT which touted the benefits of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) on businesses in general, I was particularly wondering if Information Technology (IT) “really really” gives competitive advantage in the Business of Banking. As a Chartered Banker and someone who appreciates the application of IT in the Business of Banking, I have deliberated on this for a very long time and “daringly” tried to conclude that IT on its own, cannot and will not ever give any Bank a competitive advantage if the Bank in an off-line” mode has no well laid down management and corporate governance structures and brilliant competent “out of the box” thinking people who can use IT (a mere tool) in an “on-line” mode to drive the Bank. Basically, if the structures cannot support and people do not understand the Business of Banking to run the Bank without IT, inefficiency will collapse