Thinking back to a time when I was much younger, and early in my career, I often pondered my future in financial services/banking. I knew that I wanted to have a successful career, but I had no real concept of the ideal path or measure of that success.
I’m sure most of you will agree that no number of words in any given language can be used to adequately describe a mother's love. Factor in a global pandemic that forced us into a lockdown where both parents and children have to be productive in the same space while bringing that love, patience and sacrifice, and things just got a little trickier.
There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted almost every aspect of life as we know it. As it relates to banking, the physical limitations have impacted how most customers would usually perform their ‘in-branch’ transactions. However, and thankfully, this has acted as a catalyst to the digital channel adoption to a much-needed society like ours.
For many non-energy sector businesses, the fourth quarter of the year represents a period where the lead-up to Divali, Christmas and Carnival festivities normally provides a boost to commercial activity. Unfortunately, with the cancellation of Carnival 2021, the unstable job market and great economic uncertainty, (all due to the pandemic) fourth quarter 2020 was destined to be decidedly unspectacular for most businesses.
Throughout 2020, governments across the region required extraordinary support to maintain public services, help SME's, provide income to disproportionately affected citizens, and other forms of emergency funding to bridge the fiscal gap created by the Pandemic.
Conventional wisdom posits that “Confession is good for the soul.” Taking a page from that adage, I have a confession to make. I must confess that, after more than one year of it, and more importantly, having to always put on a brave face, I am more frequently experiencing bouts of pandemic fatigue.