Maryanne Maina
Maryanne Maina
Queen Nkomo is Mobile Transactions Solutions head of mobile channel at First National Bank. She is in charge of the bank's cellphone banking, inContact and bulk SMS services.
Her target market is anyone who uses a cellphone.
"Every day is different and my day is mostly filled by many meetings with shareholders.
"Through the meetings I am kept up to date with the strategy of the business and know what takes place to help ue to move to the next level.
"It is also important to spend time learning the market and what appeals to it.
"This is done with my team," she said.
Her section requires a lot of technical skills as it is a merger between the cellphone industry and the banking industries.
"You need to fully understand the business for you to succeed in it. Have insight on the customer interface. Interpersonal skills are also essential," said Nkomo.
She studied Computer Science and Information Systems at Rhodes University.
This has enabled her to understand both industries as it is her duty to simplify technical information into an easily understood language for consumers.
"As a leader, there are many questions I ask myself. It is sometimes tough to grow my team to the next level but they are ambitious and passionate about their work.
"I usually ask myself if I give them the right platform and support they require to grow.
"It is also a challenge to balance work as there is too little time and too many opportunities," she said.
"The question of how we can take our business ahead boggles the mind and getting the customer to understand the cellphone business and how it can revolutionise their lives as they can use it for transactions without having to stand in long ATM queues. But these challenges make the days interesting," she said.
Nkomo is very confident about the importance of this service and the future of mobile banking.
"We offer this service in Namibia and Botswana. It has passed the number of Internet banking users in Botswana.
"For every one person on the African continent, there are five or more cellphones. This is good news for our mission.
The future is bright. Only the lack of adequate education can hold us back.
This challenges the industry to educate people," she said.
Nkomo's role requires her to be up to date with technology that is fast changing globally.
She reads widely on the electronic, cellphone and banking industries.
She also attends mobile industry conferences.
mobile banking
Maryanne Maina
Maryanne Maina
Queen Nkomo is Mobile Transactions Solutions head of mobile channel at First National Bank. She is in charge of the bank's cellphone banking, inContact and bulk SMS services.
Her target market is anyone who uses a cellphone.
"Every day is different and my day is mostly filled by many meetings with shareholders.
"Through the meetings I am kept up to date with the strategy of the business and know what takes place to help ue to move to the next level.
"It is also important to spend time learning the market and what appeals to it.
"This is done with my team," she said.
Her section requires a lot of technical skills as it is a merger between the cellphone industry and the banking industries.
"You need to fully understand the business for you to succeed in it. Have insight on the customer interface. Interpersonal skills are also essential," said Nkomo.
She studied Computer Science and Information Systems at Rhodes University.
This has enabled her to understand both industries as it is her duty to simplify technical information into an easily understood language for consumers.
"As a leader, there are many questions I ask myself. It is sometimes tough to grow my team to the next level but they are ambitious and passionate about their work.
"I usually ask myself if I give them the right platform and support they require to grow.
"It is also a challenge to balance work as there is too little time and too many opportunities," she said.
"The question of how we can take our business ahead boggles the mind and getting the customer to understand the cellphone business and how it can revolutionise their lives as they can use it for transactions without having to stand in long ATM queues. But these challenges make the days interesting," she said.
Nkomo is very confident about the importance of this service and the future of mobile banking.
"We offer this service in Namibia and Botswana. It has passed the number of Internet banking users in Botswana.
"For every one person on the African continent, there are five or more cellphones. This is good news for our mission.
The future is bright. Only the lack of adequate education can hold us back.
This challenges the industry to educate people," she said.
Nkomo's role requires her to be up to date with technology that is fast changing globally.
She reads widely on the electronic, cellphone and banking industries.
She also attends mobile industry conferences.