Dipo Olowookere
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, has revealed that the company plans to establish not less than 50,000 agent banking locations, also known as Ecobank Xpress Points, across the country before the end of 2019.
Mr Akinwuntan explained that this is part of the bank’s commitment to bringing banking operations closer to Nigerian neighbourhoods.
Speaking in a media chat with newsmen in Lagos recently, the banker said the move was also in line with the vision of the Pan African lender to ensure the financial inclusion of all Nigerians.
According to him, the bank has 400 physical locations in Nigeria, and the aim is to let every household have access to Ecobank services.
“We have presence in every state in Nigeria. We have a customer base of 9 million in Nigeria, with 400 branches. More interestingly, more than 4,000 agency locations, known as Ecobank Xpress Points, which is our approach to bringing banking to every neighbourhood,” he said.
He said further that, “Our ambition is to have 50,000 of such locations this year such that in every neighbourhood you can access Ecobank Xpress point to do cash deposit, withdrawal and actually make it more convenient for customers to open an account, get an instant card and participate in financial economy.
“Across the group, we have about 4,000 ATMs. In Nigeria we have 2,000 ATMs and we are still expanding the ATM network.”
Speaking on the contribution of Ecobank to Nigerian and African economy, Mr Akinwuntan said the bank has recorded many firsts in the banking industry revolution and introduction of EcobankPay is one of them.
He said,
“We have introduced EcobankPay which has brought together all three QR codes
available in the country on one platform.
“EcobankPay accepts and make payment with Masterpass, Mvisa and Mcash. You can
have 100 QR codes at no additional cost.
“You don’t require different number, just one number and you are able to transact. We bringing this digital solution into the economy will enable small businesses to participate more effectively, enables faster savings, reduces risk of insecurity.”
Mr Akinwuntan added that Ecobank will be bringing message of the combination of its POS, EcobankPay, Express Point, ATMs, Ecobank Omni, and Ecobank Omni light to markets and households to enable people interact with the products.
