Lender deepens retail products, services through digital channels

Pan-African financial services institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc said it has deepened its retail products and services aimed at delivering services to meet its customers’ needs across Africa.

The lender said the services and product offerings, targeting all classes of customers have been specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of individual customers of the bank, in line with its Customer First policy.

UBA’s Head of Retail Liabilities, Ogechi Altraide, stated this in a virtual international media parley with a diverse group of journalists and publishers from all over Africa. She noted that UBA was well prepared ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic and had rolled-out a number of products that enabled customers to carry out their daily transactions with ease from the comfort of their homes.

She said: “At UBA, we have developed very deep and customer-centric solutions that have given us number one ranking over time. Our retail footprint cuts across 20 African countries, where we serve over 20 million customers through well-researched platforms, including over 20,000 POS as well as 3,000 ATMs deployed across the continent. We have well over 10 million active cards, while our very active and highly applauded Mobile App and USSD platforms serve several millions of subscribers every second.”

Continuing, Altraide said: “Our retail banking platforms cater to all ages and classes with the Kiddies and Teens Account – where parents can earn rewards and bonuses for saving for their kids, while also enjoys support in terms of scholarships and health insurance; Next Gen Account – which caters for young adults; Mass Marketing segment – made up of low to mid income earners; Affluent Banking for the premium banking experience as well as SME banking, which caters to meeting the needs of a niche industry essential for the growth of any economy.”

Throwing more light on the bank’s increasing support for the MSMEs, she said UBA offers both financial and non-financial services to this all-important sector as well as access to loans. “At UBA, we recognise that SMEs are important to economic growth, therefore our various offerings for MSMEs are positioned to support them in this regard.”

She identified other retail propositions the bank has developed to promote financial inclusion as Diaspora Banking, where customers can enjoy the same quality of services in all locations around the world through UBA Connect and Africash; and Agency Banking, which makes use of digital channels that allow customers to access services in their neighbourhoods from dedicated Agents.

Besides, UBA mobile banking, USSD, internet banking and LEO – UBA’s virtual assistant other innovative platforms that drive the bank’s retail business include UBA’s Click Credit – an accepted facility that makes instant cash available to customers with salary accounts within minutes.

Altraide said already, over 50,000 people have benefited from the facility, adding that customers can access up to N5million in a matter of seconds.

United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than 20 million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points, in 20 African countries.

With presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.