Union Bank upgrades branches, extends product offerings

Union Bank of Nigeria has unveiled two of its upgraded branches in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, as part of efforts to make banking “simpler and smarter” for its teeming customers, under the refreshed brand identity.
It also extendedits savings product offering-UnionKorrect, designed to assist customers “save small and win big,” which it had earlier launched in Lagos.

The two branches, located on Bank Road, Dugbe, and the University College Hospital (UCH), according to the bank’s Transformation Director, Joe Mbulu, showedthe bank had been working in the past three years and improving on its physical infrastructure to provide customers a more comfortable banking environment.

“We have done a lot of work in the background such that when customers come into the new Union Bank, they can see it’s as good as (if not better than) any other bank in Nigeria. In fact, our goal is to make it better than any other bank in Nigeria,” he said.

Mbulu said beyond the physical infrastructure upgrade, the bank had improved on its operations, especially its technology.

He noted that customers can now walk into any of the branches and open an account (including processing of ATM card) in less than 30 minutes.  

“Our transformation transcends the physical branch. We used to have archaic technology, we admit. The old Union Bank was a bit difficult to work with; but we have currently the best in banking technology in Nigeria.
“We have (also) built a world class data centre in Lagos; and we have a backup of that databank. So, the era of ‘system down’ time in Union Bank is over,” he said.

He pointed out that the new Union Bank has centralized basic operations, services and processes, so that in all the branches across the nation, there will be “uniform processes” of simpler and smarter banking operations.

Also, the bank’s Head of Strategy, Lola Cardoso, said the launch of the branches was also evidence of more transformation the bank is about to witness.
“As you can see, there is a difference between what you see today and what was here before. We present a simpler, smarter bank. Beside the ambience being more comfortable for our customers, it also demonstrates the fact that we’ve invested in technology.

“Customers can come in, carry out their transaction and leave in a short time; get attended to with more improved services, and at the same time (we) have a brand identity that is more vibrant than we had before.
“So, really this is about making banking simpler so that people can focus on the things that matter most,” she said.

Senator LekanBalogun, who represented the Olubadan Ibadan at the occasion, after inspecting the new branches, said: “It promises to be a new era in banking, with the new branches and new technology; one that we may never have seen before in this country. I’m impressed.”