Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerians can now perform financial transactions without having to bother about charges that normally come with such from banks.
This is because Standard Chartered Bank, which officially launched its Digital Bank in Nigeria on Monday, is offering zero charge on all interbank transfers, SMS notification and ATM withdrawals.
In addition, account holders with the lender would be able to perform funds transfer without adding beneficiaries, generate a soft token for all transactions, enjoy free bank card delivered to their doorsteps nationwide as well as enjoy account management and service request.
At the launch held at the Civic Centre in Lagos yesterday, it was announced that the Digital Bank will initially offer savings accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits (with the option of joint accounts) along with Lending and Wealth Management solutions.
It was further stated that the bank’s digital services are available by downloading the Standard Chartered mobile application on the app stores. New clients can execute all their banking activities from their mobile devices, starting by opening their bank account in less than 10 minutes. They can also provide all verification documents by uploading to the application and fully complete their onboarding process within minutes.
Commenting on the launch, Lamin Manjang, CEO, Nigeria said, “We are pleased to launch our digital bank in Africa with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This is a key milestone on our digital journey as a Bank and underlines our commitment to investing and growing in the market.
“We have been steadily investing in expanding our footprint in Africa over the years, launching earlier in CDI, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania, and this will continue to be a priority moving forward. Digitising Africa remains at the heart of our business strategy for the region and we look to continue to grow our business in Nigeria being the best financial partner to our clients.
“For us, our commitment to our clients is not only being Here for good for them but also empowering them to be unstoppable in their financial aspirations.”
Also commenting, David Idoru, Head of Retail Banking, Nigeria, said, “Our digital bank was developed with our clients in mind. We have taken into consideration the feedback received by our clients at each stage of the design process and have incorporated innovative technology to allow them to execute all banking activities from a mobile device.
“This includes 70 banking services through the appIn addition, the client onboarding journey has been digitised and in just the amount of time it takes you to make a cup of coffee, you can open a new account through the app. What has also been introduced is that our clients enjoy zero charge on all interbank transactions, zero charge on SMS notifications and free delivery of cards to them wherever they are.
“Clients can also open term deposit accounts, Joint accounts, Lending and WM products. This is something we are very proud of and we look forward to continuously providing the best in class financial services to our clients.”
Business Post gathered that the unveiling on Monday was attended by over 300 dignitaries, business leaders, clients and senior management, as well as the African Giant and Nigerian music icon, Burna Boy, who doubles as the bank’s Digital Ambassador. He used the occasion to share his experience on the ease of opening an account using his mobile phone.
