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Union Bank Gets High Ratings in SME Banking, Digital Solutions, Others

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Union Bank of Nigeria New Logo

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The huge investments made by Union Bank of Nigeria Plc in technology, small and medium enterprises, and others are beginning to yield positive results.

In the Euromoney Market Leaders Rankings for World’s Best Banks in 2022, the financial institution received five high ratings, reaffirming its strong position in the Nigerian banking sector, characterised by improved business products and services.

According to the rankings, Union Bank was recognised as ‘Highly Regarded’ in Corporate Banking, Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance and classified as ‘Notable’ in SME Banking and Digital Solutions.

The CSR and ESG ‘Highly Regarded’ ranking demonstrate Union Bank’s proven track record and commitment to being a responsible organisation.

Initiatives like UnionCares and the Employee Volunteer programme are examples of the positive contributions made by the lender. Beyond giving back to the communities it serves, Union Bank is also a leading advocate for sustainability.

The bank embeds sustainable practises in all its operations and has over 400 solar-powered branches and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to buttress its goal of embracing clean energy for the reduced carbon footprint.

Union Bank was also ranked as ‘Notable’ in recognition of its significant advancements in digital solutions. In addition to already-existing online channels/tools and a variety of advanced digital payment methods designed to provide a seamless and secure banking experience, Union Bank recently launched SpaceNXT – a fit-for-purpose co-creation technology hub for visionaries, techpreneurs and innovators. This hub reflects Union Bank’s focus on developing niche technological solutions.

Another area where Union Bank ranked ‘Notable’ was SME banking, in recognition of its continued support for small businesses in Nigeria. This is in addition to the company’s recent recognition by Global Finance as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria.

The Brand and Marketing Officer of Union Bank, Ms Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, while commenting on this year’s Euromoney Market Leaders ratings, said, “We are pleased to be recognised by Euromoney as ‘Highly Regarded’ and ‘Notable’ in these five categories.”

“This recognition validates the success of our business strategy as we are a digital-led bank with a culture that embeds sustainability across all our operations using a unique triple-pillar model of Citizenship, Sustainability, and Innovation.

“We remain committed to doing our part to contribute to the environmental, socioeconomic, and financial development of our nation and continent while providing our customers with simpler, smarter solutions,” she added.

Euromoney Market Leaders is an independent global assessment of the leading financial service providers across key categories in each market. The ‘Market Leaders’ rankings take multiple sources of data, including qualitative and quantitative, to build a robust and objective picture of industry leaders.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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Banking

NIBSS Upgrades NQR Payment to Reduce Cash Dependency

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NQR payment

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has unveiled significant upgrades to its Nigeria Quick Response (NQR) payment system.

The mechanism is designed to reduce cash dependency and streamline and enhance digital transactions for businesses and individuals across Nigeria.

The NQR payment system, launched in March 2021, is part of Nigeria’s broader push to promote cashless transactions across the country.

The system allows customers to make payments by scanning a QR code, which redirects them to their bank or mobile wallet to complete the payment. It is also timely and avoids delays.

Speaking on the development, Mr Premier Oiwoh, MD/CEO of NIBSS, emphasized the evolving capabilities of NQR and how it is poised to revolutionize payments, transactions are processed instantly, ensuring immediate settlement.

“This account is the only QR in the world that is instant for the beneficiary,” he said.

He noted that the system is also far more robust, offering smoother and more secure transactions. It now supports both Person-to-Person (P2P) and Entity-to-Person (E2P) payments, significantly expanding its use cases.

“Beyond the P2P, there is also E2P on the MQR, and most of the bank apps have it today.

“My dream is to have hawkers on the streets being able to present their QR in the form of an ID card and then make payment. Cash cannot be everywhere, what we are all looking for is payment” he said.

“You can also send your personal QR code to anybody to pay you rather than send an account number,” he said

Mr Oiwoh announced that a new pricing structure for NQR payment will take effect on March 1, 2021.

The use of QR codes is expected to significantly reduce Nigerians heavy reliance on cash, thereby contributing to the digital economy infrastructure and financial inclusion agenda of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

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Banking

UBA Resolves ‘Transfers to Other Banks’ Glitch on Mobile Banking App

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UBA Mobile Banking App

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has restored full service to its mobile banking app after some customers experienced difficulties completing financial transactions from the platform.

Business Post reports that earlier, some UBA customers could not make fund transfers to other financial institutions from the mobile app.

The lender quickly swung into action to resolve the issue and has fully restored its mobile banking app service, with customers now able to send funds to other banks via the platform.

Confirming this development, the bank, in a notice to customers on Thursday afternoon, said, “We are pleased to inform you that the transfers to other banks service has been restored on the UBA Mobile Banking App.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and reassure you of our commitment to continuously improve our services.”

While thanking them for their patience and understanding, UBA advised any customer still experiencing “any further issues [to] please contact our CFC support team.”

“For enquiries, please contact our 24-hour Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) on 02012808822 or send us an email at [email protected],” the message said.

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Ecobank Partners China’s XTransfer to Empower African SMEs Foreign Trade

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Ecobank Business Account

By Adedapo Adesanya

African lender, Ecobank, has partnered with China’s business-to-business (B2B) cross-border trade payment platform, XTransfer, to empower African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) foreign trade.

XTransfer will leverage Ecobank’s extensive network across Africa, enabling its Chinese clients to collect funds in local African currencies while assisting African SMEs in making payments in their local currencies to negate foreign exchange (FX) issues.

The two parties have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding of Cooperation (MOU) to roll out comprehensive cross-border financial services that will facilitate trade between China and African countries.

In recent years, China and Africa have continued to deepen trade cooperation, with the scale of imports and exports rising rapidly. In 2023, bilateral trade reached a record $282 billion. From January to November 2024, China’s exports to Africa totalled $160 billion, a 1.4 per cent increase from the previous year, while imports from Africa reached US$107 billion, marking a substantial rise of 6.6 per cent.

Despite this growth, African SMEs engaged in foreign trade face numerous challenges related to cross-border payments and fund collections. These challenges include difficulties in opening accounts with traditional banks, a high risk of funds being frozen, difficulties in foreign exchange and related losses, lengthy remittance times and high remittance costs.

The partnership between XTransfer and Ecobank Group will foster collaboration between both parties to provide comprehensive cross-border payment solutions for African SMEs’ foreign trade.

XTransfer will leverage Ecobank’s extensive network across Africa, enabling its Chinese clients to collect funds in local African currencies while assisting African SMEs in making payments in their local currencies to negate foreign exchange issues.

The partnership also seeks to help reduce the costs of global trade and enhance the global competitiveness of African SMEs.

Speaking on this move, Mr Bill Deng, Founder and CEO of XTransfer, stated, “We are excited about the partnership with Ecobank. This collaboration represents a significant milestone for XTransfer and greatly enhances our global payment capabilities. Leveraging Ecobank’s extensive payment network in Africa will accelerate our business expansion in the region.

“We are looking forward to the synergies and opportunities this partnership will create. Together, we will drive innovation and improve the financial landscape, making financial services more efficient and accessible for African SMEs.”

On his part, Mr Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Group, said by collaborating with XTransfer, Ecobank is strengthening its position as a key player in the global payments industry by reducing trade barriers, enabling African SMEs to thrive in international markets and contributing to the continent’s sustainable development.

“We are proud to partner with XTransfer to advance seamless cross-border payment solutions between Africa and China. This partnership builds on our established strategy, which includes a representative office in China and a dedicated China desk.

“By integrating XTransfer’s cutting-edge solutions with our pan-African payment platform, we simplify payments, reduce transaction costs, and enable African businesses to thrive in global trade.”

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