Bank One CEO: 'Opposing Digital and Human Is the Wrong Move'

Sunil Ramgobin has been at the helm of Bank One since October 2024, and he is wasting no time in setting out his vision for one of Mauritius's most prominent mid-sized commercial banks. In a wide-ranging interview, he argues that the biggest mistake a bank can make today is to treat digital tools and human expertise as opposing forces.

Bank One is a Mauritian bank jointly owned by the CIEL Group, one of the island's largest conglomerates, and I&M Group, a major East African financial services group. It serves both retail and corporate clients across Mauritius and has built a reputation for agility in a market dominated by larger players like MCB Group and SBM Holdings.

Ramgobin's core message is straightforward: technology should enhance what people do, not replace them. He believes that clients, whether individuals managing their savings or large companies structuring complex financing deals, still want to interact with knowledgeable bankers. Digital platforms make those interactions faster and more convenient, but they do not remove the need for human judgment.

The new CEO has identified two priority areas for growth. The first is Corporate and Institutional Banking, which covers services for large businesses, government entities, and financial institutions. The second is Private Banking, which caters to high-net-worth individuals who require personalised wealth management, investment advice, and estate planning. Both segments demand a level of expertise and relationship-building that cannot be fully automated.

Ramgobin also emphasises decisional agility, the ability to make credit and service decisions quickly, as a competitive advantage for a bank of Bank One's size. Larger institutions can be slower to respond to client needs because of more layers of internal approval. A nimbler structure, he argues, is itself a form of service.

The interview also touched on the risks facing the banking sector more broadly. Cybersecurity threats, evolving regulatory requirements, and the pressure to invest in digital infrastructure while keeping costs under control are challenges shared by banks across the region. Mauritius, as an international financial centre regulated by the Bank of Mauritius, faces additional scrutiny around anti-money-laundering compliance and correspondent banking relationships with global institutions.

What this means for customers and the market: Bank One's strategy signals that the bank is not trying to out-spend the larger players on technology alone. Instead, it is betting that a combination of faster decision-making, specialist expertise in corporate and private banking, and a genuinely personalised service model can win and retain clients. For Mauritian businesses looking for a responsive banking partner, and for high-net-worth individuals who feel underserved by standard retail banking, this positioning could be significant. It also reflects a broader trend in African and Indian Ocean banking, where mid-sized institutions are carving out space by focusing on service quality rather than scale.

Source: Le Defi Media