Ilse Smuts

Background

About Ilse Smuts

Ilse is currently the Product Growth Head for Life Stage segments in Retail Cash Investments, giving dedicated focus to the value propositions aimed at under 25s and over 60s, including full Profit & Loss ownership and responsibility. Between January 2015 and January 2020, apart from a 6 month secondment to FNB Islamic Banking in 2019, Ilse was the Head of Marketing at FNB Savings & Cash Investments, a strategic business unit responsible for attracting profitable funding to the FirstRand Group by helping individual & business clients meet their savings & cash investments goals. According to the SARB BA900 Report, as at May 2019, FNB is the leader in Household Deposit Market Share. To help clients reach savings goals, the role & purpose of marketing include the launch of innovative, distinctive solutions to meet savings needs. Flagships products launched include the popular Money Maximiser for individuals & the Business 48 Hour Cash Accelerator; both products' performance far exceeded growth expectations. Prior to this, Ilse was the Head of Marketing at Core Banking Solutions up until December 2014. CBS is a dynamic business unit & is considered a core & strategic driver for FNB, responsible for the development, marketing & maintenance of a range of Personal Cheque & TransmissionAccounts, as well as youth & student accounts – including all the operational requirements, as well the value added benefits & rewards. Ilse was also part of the “Steve from beep bank” team, that won a lifetime Apex Advertising award in 2019. Within CBS, Ilse headed up the Marketing area & lead the team responsible for taking new products, benefits & rewards to market and retaining a sizable client base & extracting additional value in a client centric manner. In 2008, Ilse was awarded the Rising Star Award in the Sunday Times Business Times Marketing Excellence Awards. Ilse’s career in banking began in 1998 in FNB as a marketing assistant. Working her way up the corporate ladder, Ilse was soon promoted to a Marketing Manager & soon thereafter appointed Head of Marketing for CBS (now CCB). Ilse has a broad understanding of financial services & is an official spokesperson for FNB. Ilse also takes on mentoring & coaching roles in the strategic marketing discipline.