BABATUNDE FATAI BARUWA
Lekki
Summary
A detailed strategist and visionary leader with extensive knowledge of international and Nigerian banking standards, strong planning skills, and prioritizing effectively in a fast-paced environment. Results-driven Operations Management Executive with extensive experience including product innovation, organizational Management, business development, marketing, business processes, and team building within diverse industries. Skilled in Planning, coordinating, and executing successful strategic business programs with a track record of improving operational stability, efficiency, and profitability. Excellent interpersonal and relationship management skills spanning over 20 years and a proven track record of delivering quality service in various roles across the banking sector with a keen understanding of market trends, competitor tracking, innovation management, and service-based sales to lead high-performing teams, develop and implement new products and services while meeting stretching targets with uncompromising ethics.
Overview
36
36
years of professional experience
Work History
Head, Cash Management – Transaction Banking
United Bank for Africa
- Responsible for developing and managing working capital solutions that leverage traditional branch and self-service channels for state and private sector businesses at national and cross-border levels.
Group Head, Alliance Management, Payment Solution, and Channel Integration
United Bank for Africa
- Responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and evaluation of all significant alliances, including MTN, payment solutions, POS@Branch, Mobile Banking, Airtime vending on ATMs, Web Portal, e-business product development, and cash card management
- Achieved over 500 percent growth in revenue from X-Change card cash within eight months of roll-out
- Monitor Branch activities on X-change cards, ATMs, POS usage, and Payment Solutions, performance indicators/service standards to ensure alignment with business/customer requirements and implemented a corporate expense management payment solution that allows payment into multiple cash cards
- Designed and implemented the IT/ operational backbone necessary to resolve significant backend accounting entries on the cash card, increasing product awareness internally and externally.
Chief Innovation and Digital Officer
Baobab Group
01.2022 - Current
- Manage, inspire, and develop a diverse team based in Nigeria and across nine countries in Africa involved in Product success: IT, Product Development, Growth
- Develop and mentor key product management personnel, constantly ensuring improvement in their professional skills and offering assistance
- Head the Product Management group and ensure that these critical roles are executed in the most efficient way possible, leading to the overall efficiency of the Product Management group
- Responsible for the product development process from ideation through production
- Drive execution and coordination with technology, legal, and operational partners within the scope of Boabab Nigeria and across nine countries in Africa; ultimately responsible for the implementation of Boabab Nigeria and across nine countries in Africa duties in projects promptly
- Coordinate with Group central delivery functions (IT, Innovation, Data ...) on product development and adaptation.
Regional Bank Executive, North and Abuja
Union Bank of Nigeria
01.2016 - 12.2021
- Provide the leadership, Management, and vision necessary to ensure the North Bank has the proper operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems to grow the North business and ensure financial strength and operating efficiency
- Responsible for managing all hands-on operational aspects of the business and assisting the CEO in the aggressive and successful growth of the company
- Remain close to all stakeholders, including the CEO, chairman, board members, staff, clients, key decision-makers, and external service suppliers
- Research and implement new initiatives to drive revenue and lower operating costs while maintaining competitive quality products and delivering excellent customer support
- Continuously monitor the annual budget and ensure that revenue/sales targets are met
- Provide day-to-day leadership and Management to a service organization that mirrors the company's adopted mission and core values
- Deposit Mobilization and Risk Asset management and creation, Customer Management and Acquisition for the Regions
- Preparation and Management of budget goals and achievements for the regions, in line with the overall strategy of the Bank, and communicating same to Relationship managers across the areas
- It ensures even distribution of Bank products efficiently regarding Agency banking and all digital platforms across the board
- Strategic Planning & Communication – effectively coordinating and leading the organization’s strategic planning activities and processes
- Effective communication of agreed corporate strategy to the entire workforce
- Execution, Monitoring, and Evaluation – consistent implementation of organizational objectives and periodic measurement of results
- Strategy Evaluation – effective selection and appropriateness of strategy based on sound evaluation principles
- Obtaining and analyzing competitor information on government policies to ensure that strategies align with the market business need while continually training and developing sales team members and setting revenue targets for sales team members
- Implementing sales & distribution plans and strategies for all related product ranges across channels and is responsible for the call center, internet mobile, and Branch network teams
- Establish and manage partnerships toward sales effect by being attuned to trends in channel delivery, thereby coming up with opportunities within the industry as they spring up.
Head, e-Banking, Digital, and Innovative Banking / e-Payment
Union Bank of Nigeria
06.2012 - 01.2016
- Direct oversight and supervision of Digital Channels (Mobile Banking, Online Banking, ATM Acquiring Business, and merchant POS Acquiring), Remittances and mobile Money, Agency Banking and sub-agency Business, Card Issuing, MIS, and strategy in the Consumer Distribution Department
- Develop and structure hybrid e-products for the Bank to surpass the investment/transaction expectations of the Bank’s chosen markets and clientele
- Oversee all research and market intelligence reporting systems to identify new markets, business opportunities, and threats
- Coordinate e-product innovation, development, and sales to meet the needs of wholesale and retail clients most efficiently and cost-effectively, using the appropriate technology and processes
- Business development and marketing of all digital products (POS, debit, credit and prepaid cards, ATM, internet banking, Mobile banking, web acquiring and payment/collection solutions, and Mobile Payments)
- Responsible for driving e-products with Retail, Commercial, and Public sectors, managing all existing digital value-chain relationships in the zones, and ensuring that set times as agreed upon regarding SLAs are met
- Liaise with the Central Bank of Nigeria's third-party service providers on the most appropriate bank payment structure
- Facilitate periodic product training for the zones to increase awareness among the core zonal and branch staff on digital banking products.
Head, Payment Strategy
Stanbic IBTC Bank (Standard Bank)
03.2009 - 06.2012
- Managed and developed all Electronic Banking, Payment, and Retail strategy units aligned with the Group’s corporate objectives for African payments
- Consistently surpassed profit target for three years, growing from a loss position on the assumption of responsibility to profit center (Profit Before Tax)
- Directly responsible for the ongoing transformation from mono-product to multi-product, cards, channels (POS, Mobile Payments, ATM, Internet banking, Web and Mobile Banking for managing the Mobile Payment Business line as an independent unit
- Setting up partnerships, structuring joint ventures and complex multi-party agreements, managing business cycles from the business plan, sales, pre-sales, deal structuring, and contractual arrangements in coordination with delivery and precision.
Group Head, Card Products/Projects, and Alliance Management
United Bank for Africa
05.2006 - 03.2009
- Responsible for managing all aspects of card products management
- Including marketing, financial and non-financial Management, card sales, product design and launch, operations, client service issues, credit card sales, and penetration reporting
- Negotiating new alliances and adjusting the composition of the alliance portfolio to maximize value, managing corporate payment solutions that provide accounts receivable to corporate banking
- Responsible for developing UBA branch training and education on card products, working within UBA to integrate credit cards into team training and business practice Management, and Integrating new credit card products into the process of the existing card while working with Credit Card Operations and Technology developers to expand those systems to facilitate credit card sales for sales associates.
Operational Services and IT
Chams Nigeria Ltd
Lagos
09.2005 - 05.2006
- Provide leadership, vision, and Management to the ITS department
- Oversee the revision of the IT Strategic Plan on an annual basis, ensuring its coherence with the overall company strategic plan, as well as the development, design, and implementation of new applications and changes to existing computer systems and software packages
- Analyzing risks, costs, operations, benefits, and opportunities when evaluating the operational capabilities required to support the new business requirements for new projects and initiatives
- Responsible for data center operation, network management, capacity management, change direction, and bandwidth management of the ChamsAccess terminal group.
Head, Strategy & Business Transformation
Compal Systems
New York
02.2002 - 06.2005
- Lead strategic planning and implementation functions of the business
- Implement top-level management decisions (strategic and tactical)
- Organize, lead, and adjust the organization to optimize its efficiency and build undisputed market leadership, considering market constraints and changes concerning customer needs and the overall organization
- Develop a Customer Orientation Action Plan, lead and coordinate the definition and Implementation of customer-driven processes and practices
- Manage relationships with key clients and negotiate binding contracts
- Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for each management team member and monitor performance individually and collectively
- Participate in designing and implementing business systems to aid MIS & reporting
- Review current IS policies and procedures to determine and implement best practices to create efficiencies and ensure the Company meets its compliance obligations under relevant laws and the requirements of regulatory authorities
- Conducted economic and industry studies and analysis from time to time and related research
- Identifying and creating new opportunities to develop and launch new products and fanning excellence within and outside the business.
Director of Information Systems
Prudential Financial
New Jersey
04.1997 - 01.2002
- Directed five high-volume data center operations in five states
- Supported operation canters by complementing and monitoring business development plans
- Implemented and administered SunSystems and later Sage Enterprise Systems – an Enterprise Resources Planning system running (General Ledger, Sales Order, Purchase Order, Fixed Assets, Inventory Control and Cash Management, Account Payable, Account Receivable, Report Writer, Bills of Materials and Work Order modules)
- Acquired new client business and added services to existing clients
- Managed multiple multimillion-dollar projects to implement recent business intelligence reports; projects resulted in new customers by 25 percent and added new reports to 67 percent of existing customers
- Managed and coordinated the entire project life cycle for Prudential’s financial analysis package to support the GAAP financial statements
- Automated the analysis package for all profit centers to systematically extract information from the data warehouse using Hyperion Essbase multidimensional database and other systems.
Consultant
Tyco Capital
New York
06.1995 - 04.1997
- Evaluated and implemented procedural and automated enhancements to increase efficiencies; identified new systems; directed and controlled project requirements; monitored related schedules; and improved the company's internal controls, operations, and services
- Strategic Planning and Implementation of Information Systems services and functions relating to Planning, budgeting, and coordinating all divisional activities and programs
- And Implementation of information systems strategies at department, division, and corporate levels
- Systems Administrator, Sage Enterprise Solutions (ERP system) comprises 11 modules
- Network Administrator of about 100 nodes (on two domains) running on Windows NT 4.0
- Vendor liaison and relationship management on all matters about Information and Communications Technologies across the business
- Planned and coordinated report routine and unsolicited market research surveys for management information purposes using internal market research tools and liaised with Market Research Agencies on extensive surveys that could not be conducted internally.
Operational Services and IT
Lot Associates
New York
09.1993 - 06.1995
- Designed and developed a Resource Management Application to aid Management in reviewing current requirements and selecting the candidate who best matches the needs
- The application was developed with Visual Basic 3.0, SQL Server 6.5, and Crystal Reports as a report generation tool and involved in front-end development and creating and setting up the backend database
- Backend tasks include automated database backup and monitoring database and disk space
- Maintained user accounts, logins to the database, and permissions
- This MDI application uses WIN32 controls like Treeview, ListView, and Statusbar
- Analyzed and resolved interfacing between Oracle, Microsoft Access 97, and Asset management products
- Involved in the stage where the application was being ported from one server to another.
Technology Specialist (Military Service)
United States Army
USA
02.1988 - 06.1993
- Performed statistical calculation, manipulation, and analysis for unit and battalion commanders
- Worked for military research and development laboratory, responsible for hardware procurement and training, v structural systems
- Developed customized programs for engineering design using MS Excel and Visual Basic 2.0
- I created a data link between drawings and design applications for information interchange
- Developed an application to produce condensed reports from a vast amount of data using data conversion and parsing, thus significantly reducing the time required to analyze and interpret a large volume of data efficiently
- This application was created using MS Excel
- Conducted market research, evaluated and acquired pertinent software available, and trained staff on software utilization
- Installed and maintained application software, including Microsoft products, Lotus, and design applications.
Education
Master of Science Degree in Computer Science -
Pace University
Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics - undefined
Baruch College of the City University of New York
Skills
Business Transformationundefined
Professional Development Courses
- Executive Management - Leadership
- Back-office Management Workshop
- The Art of Banking Digital Risk Management
- PRINCE 2 Project Management
- Leadership with John Maxwell
- Structured Thinking and Problem-Solving
- Communications and Presentations
- Professional Selling Skills
- Emotional Intelligence
- Finance for Non-Marketing Managers
- Key Account Management
- Business Process Re-engineering
References
Available on request
Timeline
Chief Innovation and Digital Officer
Baobab Group
01.2022 - Current
Regional Bank Executive, North and Abuja
Union Bank of Nigeria
01.2016 - 12.2021
Head, e-Banking, Digital, and Innovative Banking / e-Payment
Union Bank of Nigeria
06.2012 - 01.2016
Head, Payment Strategy
Stanbic IBTC Bank (Standard Bank)
03.2009 - 06.2012
Group Head, Card Products/Projects, and Alliance Management
United Bank for Africa
05.2006 - 03.2009
Operational Services and IT
Chams Nigeria Ltd
09.2005 - 05.2006
Head, Strategy & Business Transformation
Compal Systems
02.2002 - 06.2005
Director of Information Systems
Prudential Financial
04.1997 - 01.2002
Consultant
Tyco Capital
06.1995 - 04.1997
Operational Services and IT
Lot Associates
09.1993 - 06.1995
Technology Specialist (Military Service)
United States Army
02.1988 - 06.1993
Head, Cash Management – Transaction Banking
United Bank for Africa
Group Head, Alliance Management, Payment Solution, and Channel Integration
United Bank for Africa
Master of Science Degree in Computer Science -
Pace University
Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics - undefined
Baruch College of the City University of New York
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