one-touch technology platform.”
Fintech has become a commodity,
so his strategy has been to outsource
the principal elements to the partners
who do it best. “I want to spend our
time on applications, enhancing digital
experience, and making better use of
data to understand how we can best
deliver our mortgage and other
financial services,” Harpe added. “We
see ourselves as servants to everyone
in this company, and I am proud to be
able to say we quickly ditched the oldbackroom mindset and created a very
dynamic, agile and digital forward-
thinking group.”
The IT organisation Harpe leads
now has around 40 people, all with
a problem-solving mentality. “When we
hire someone, we look well beyond
IT knowledge and competence,” he
comments. “We want people who will
take ownership of their ideas, and have
a sense of urgency about them; people
who are excited to be here and keen
to solve problems for the business.”244
AUGUST 2019GATEWAY FIRST BANK