By Dipo Olowookere
Executive Director of Retail & North Directorate at Wema Bank Plc, Mr Moruf Oseni, has opined that customers should form the core of all banking products and services.
Speaking on Tuesday during Digital Pay Expo 2017, a Fintech industry-focused event held in Lagos, the bank executive said, “Banks must become customer-centric. This is why Wema Bank created ALAT.”
“We asked customers what they wanted and came back to design a bank that will address their needs,” he added.
Mr Oseni, who represented the Managing Director of Wema Bank, Mr Segun Oloketuyi, at the event, noted that technology was changing the way things are done in several industries, including banking.
“The disruption in the banking industry is real. There are two ways to react to it. Its either we sit down and wait to be protected by the regulators or work with the ecosystem to build the future of banking,” he submitted.
Recall that on May 2, 2017, Wema Bank launched ALAT as it celebrated its 72 years of existence, shocking the Nigerian banking industry with an innovation unexpected of an old bank.
ALAT is Nigeria’s first fully digital bank which empowers Nigerians to run a bank account online without necessarily having to visit a bank.
With ALAT, account opening/sign-up can be done in 5 minutes from a mobile phone or personal computer.
Holders of the account can also enjoy a simple automated savings plan that will see them earn 10 percent annual interest, about three times the standard bank rate.
Debit cards are delivered to an account holder’s address in two business days, anywhere in Nigeria, at no cost.
Also, after activating a debit card, an account holder can lock it, unlock it and choose where it works, all possible with a mobile phone.
The ALAT app is available for download on Google’s operating system Android and Apple’s iOS.
Aduragbemi Omiyale