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Western Union now in 17 ECOBANK operational areas

World's number one money transfer services provider, Western Union has signed a global agreement to extend its current relationship with ECOBANK to cover its affiliates in 17 West and Central African countries, up from 14 affiliates where it previously operates.
Under the agreement, Western Union Money Transfer services from its more than 275,000 Agent locations worldwide will be available through ECOBANK affiliates to the bank's current and potential customers thereby adding value to its comprehensive product offerings.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, which held in ECOBANK Ghana, Hikmet Ersek, Executive Vice President and Managing Director Western Union for Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia said ETI's state of the art technology and reliable telecommunication system makes it an effective delivery platform for Western Union 's worldwide services.
According to Ersek, the key to money transfer services is a comprehensive and extensive network that operates hand-in-hand with reliable partners through localised resources, such as banks, post offices and even some retailers; which Ecobank represents.
On his part, Khalid Fellahi, Regional Vice President Africa of Western Union, said the event will further develop Western Union's relationship with ETI as well as allow the money transfer services provider extend its reach within the African continent.
He emphasized that availability of Western Union activities in more ECOBANK affiliates will also build on the trust that ETI enjoys amongst its customers,
The ECOBANK Group Chief Executive Officer, Arnold Ekpe, who was also at the event affirmed that the relationship with Western Union corresponds to the banking institution's objective of providing a comprehensive products and services offering to its consumers.
He noted that the relationship between ETI and Western Union has grown since the first Western Union Money Transfer agreement was signed in 1996 with the subsidiary of ECOBANK in Benin Republic.

Security, Key to seamless IT Integration

The widespread deployment and use of information technology infrastructure and devices is changing the face of businesses the world over. Globally, IT is improving speed to market, enhancing productivity and boosting profitability in businesses regardless of the industry they operate in. Nigeria is no exception to this trend.
In the financial sector, IT has become the engine room of innovation, growth and improved service delivery, particularly

following the successful consolidation of the banking sector. Experts at the recent Finance and IT Summit (FITS) tagged “Seamless IT Integration in Post Consolidation Era”, did not agree less and in what looked like a consensus, emphasized that to maximize the advances in the world of information for the benefits of the financial sector and invariably, that of every sector of the economy, issues of IT integration need to be urgently addressed.
Director General, Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Professor Cleopas Angaye set the tone for FITS when he said in his presentation at the one-day summit that the reforms in the banking sector was aimed at evolving a strong and robust banking sector that will be able to stand tall in the league of global banks, offer seamless services to the citizenry and be able to withstand attacks from fraudsters and hackers.
He stated that one of the steps to be taken to ensure the realization of these goals is the integration of the IT platforms of the banks to such an extent that the customer is shielded from the complexities of having to deal with different platforms, different solution providers, and inhibit successful fraudulent practices among others.
He noted that widespread adoption of IT has precipitated rapid growth in the area of electronic payment (e-payment) thus reducing to some extent the temptation to carry cash around.
Angaye, however, pointed out that the success of e-payment solutions within the country depend on things like adequate infrastructure, reliable helpdesk services, along with having an enlightened population.
“The benefits of adopting an e-payment approach are obvious but in the absence of trust, it would be difficult to convince potential buyers and sellers to migrate from the traditional platforms to the more high-tech e-payment and e-commerce.”
The NITDA DG also spoke of the place of corporate governance, as the key to building, gaining and sustaining trust, which is an essential element in getting people to use technologies.
“We have had some unfortunate circumstances in our recent past as a result of financial institutions either

not formulating corporate governance policies or in cases where they were formulated, failing to enforce such policies”, he observed.
Angaye stated that the full integration of services would lead to a steep increase in

the size of the database, which also means that
there will be a much greater loss if this database is lost or corrupted as opposed to a smaller loss that would have resulted from an un-integrated banking sector.He warned that while the financial institutions are integrating and automating intra-bank and inter-bank services, it is necessary that the processes are streamlined and made more efficient before they are automated.
Prof. Angaye said the global events of the last few years have increased the awareness of the need to further tighten security in every area. “Today, almost everything seems to depend on Information Technology- from cell phones, to transportation systems, to medical systems, to trade and commerce; there is an increased need to evolve strategies to combat cyber crimes.”

He said his agency was prepared to continue providing the enabling environment and offering the necessary support to make the Nigerian banking sector a model, especially in the area of IT integration.
Deputy general manager and Head of IT Unit, Access Bank Plc, Sina Joseph said , “Our experience has shown that seamless IT integration in a merger can be achieved by setting clear and simple goals,

define clear plans, identify possible risks and provide solutions.” Chris Ekeigwe, Managing director, EDP Audit and Security Associates corroborating the NITDA Director General stated that IT governance is an inseparable element of good corporate governance.
Ekeigwe, who is also President, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA Lagos) disclosed that IT governance is about achieving the following: getting the most value from IT, including involving it towards its strategic goals; ensuring that stakeholders and management understands the key IT risks and manage them and establishing the conditions that allow IT management to operate effectively.
On why IT governance is critical to business, he stated that it is because of the increasing dependence on information and the systems and communications that deliver it, the potential for technologies to dramatically change organizations and business practices, as well as the desire to create new opportunities and reduce costs and the risk of doing business in an interconnected world.
He revealed that IT governance has not gotten the attention it deserves due to the fact that IT requires more technical insight than other disciplines to understand how IT enables the enterprise, creates risks and gives rise to opportunities adding that IT has traditionally been treated as an entity separate from the business.
The systems audit and security expert called on firms to establish IT governance framework as part of measures to align IT strategies with business goals. He said that the IT governance framework would set objectives and provide direction for and measure performance of IT activities.
Dr. Chris Uwaje, 1st vice President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) and managing director, Connect Technologies Limited noted that the software is the oil that facilitates the smooth operations of hardware devices.
He however lamented the current situation where foreign software dominate the Nigerian market arguing that it has security implications for the country.
Uwaje canvassed for support both from government and the private sector in embracing locally developed software stating that indigenous software holds the key to rapid economic empowerment and wealth creation for the country.
But even as guest speakers analyze the place of the IT in the country's financial sector, one issue where participants seemed to have a consensus of opinion was security.
Chairman of the Summit, Senator Ayo Arise, a leading light in the nation's burgeoning electronic payment sector averred that the Nigerian banking sector has improved greatly over the last five years due to adoption of technologies.
He noted that while there has been massive investment in ATMs and other e-payment channels, so much more still need to be done including encouraging and promoting Internet banking.
Arise, however, drew attention to the growing menace of policing in an IT environment noting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant security agencies have to work in consonance with the firms (banks et al) in the financial sector to curtail perpetrators of fraud, and other financial crimes.
The Senator contended that without addressing the issue of cyber crime, the financial sector cannot achieve seamless integration.
Emeka Nwonyi, Head, Banking fraud at the EFCC, urged the banks to collaborate with the Commission in tracking down criminals in the sector remarking that without information or support from the sector, not much could be achieved.
Commander Joseph Akunobi, Officer-In-Chrage, Cyber security, Nigerian Navy School, reiterated that the responsibility for security belongs to everyone that is involved in acquiring, deploying or managing IT resources.
He insisted that there has to be consistent collaboration between the banks and all other firms that deploy IT infrastructure and the various levels of security organizations in the country. “Safe guarding IT infrastructure is a national security issue”.
Executive chairman, Alpha Technologies Limited, Col. Aiyegbeni Peters (Rtd), identified the introduction of the SMAT number service into the integration process of organizations as being capable of boosting number of inquiries from prospective clients, encouraging feedback from existing clients, building customer loyalty while improving revenue generation.
He explained that SMAT or vanity numbers, are telephone numbers where the letters associated with the number digits on the telephone, spell a name or word of value which the subscriber feels is memorable enough to associate his telephone number contacts with.
He gave an example: someone can have his number as 0-700 Pedro or maybe 0800 ICT TODAY explaining that the difference between the 0-700 and the 0-800 numbers is that the former is a non Toll free platform while the later is a toll free line.
“What this means is that under the 0-700 platform, the callers pay the normal call charges while the 0-800 are meant for companies or individuals who require volume of enquiries on their products or activities.”
According to him, consumers prefer the 0-800 numbers because they are free to call. Advertisers and companies too prefer them because not only that customers are more likely to call, the numbers are portable and they create a more national presence and come with additional capabilities in terms of reporting and routing that local numbers do not have.
Gboyega Ojuri, Managing Director, Juniper Solutions, in his paper “Deploying Low Cost High Productivity IT Infrastructure in Nigerian Banks” charged Nigerian banks to consider cost effective devices in their integration process.
FITS is an annual Summit designed to create an ICT stakeholders forum where professionals in the Nigerian ICT sector and financial / banking experts can interface.
The theme for this year's seminar and mini exhibition, “Seamless ICT integration in post consolidation Era” was chosen to enable stakeholders review progress made in IT integration post consolidation and to chart a new course going into the future.
Experts drawn from both the IT and Financial industry were among the over 300 participants on hand to help chart a course for the nation's financial industry
Organizations like Access Bank Plc, APC-MGE, Alpha Technologies, Juniper Solutions, Weco Systems Group, Interswitch, SystemSpecs, Microsoft, and Channel IT sponsored the event with endorsement from NITDA among other organizations.
Don Pedro Aganbi, co-ordinator, ICT Africa, organizers of the event conceded that with improved systems security and well defined IT governance framework, efforts to enthrone seamless IT integrations would begin to yield positive results.

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Ekajeh on ATMC's emergence


The Automated Teller Machine Consortium (ATMC) has seen about three years of business in Nigeria. But what many Nigerians do not know is what informed the establishment of the consortium especially coming at a time the banking industry in Nigeria was undergoing a revolution occasioned by the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo led banking reform programme.Managing Director of the Consortium, Noble Ekajeh told ICT TODAY in an exclusive interview that the deployment of the ATMs was in response to the growing demands of bank customers who were expecting a departure from the

traditional banking method to a more globally recognized modern system.
“The real rationale behind the deployment was that three years ago, which was considered pre-consolidation period, the banks in Nigeria had the feeling that to really provide ATM on a large scale necessary for them to have the desired impact on the Nigerian market, not one single bank could carry that investment.”
He disclosed that ATMC came into operation in Nigeria to forestall unnecessary rivalry and competition among Nigerian banks which results to a situation where banks battle for space to install their ATMs at Supermarkets, eateries, hotels and social places.
“The idea was that rather than all the banks competing in such a way for such non-bank locations, why don't the banks use a company that will help them to deploy the service so as to avoid a situation where these areas are crowded with the ATMs of 25 Banks”.
Ekajeh noted that because the ATM Consortium deploys under a neutral brand, it would be difficult to accuse it of favouritism for or bias against any of the banks maintaining that all the banks are evenly treated, as this was the practice that has evolved in more matured ATM markets the world over.

“The goal really was that we would be that company that will help the banks support their up site on non-brand deployment while the banks should focus on deploying their own ATMs in their banks”.
He said like it is the practice in other countries of the world, independent companies control the market in matured markets. “In South Africa for instance, there is a company called ATM Solution, which is like us here; they have something close to 8000 ATMs they deployed in Shopping Plazas, Shopping Malls like we do here. It is the same vision that we are trying to live here.”
Ekajeh remarked that beyond this, the company, which operates a network of ATM under the Quick Cash brand name, is diversifying. So far, the ATMC has a functional 126 locations and has just ordered additional 280 machines with the hope of completing over 300 locations in the next two to three months.
He disclosed that his company's relationship with the banks has to do with the fact that some banks prefer leasing out their ATMs for experts to manage for them. “This is where we come in. When such banks give it to us, we finance, operate and manage the ATM for the banks but the ATMs carry the banks' brands.”
The ATMC boss said already, two Nigerian Banks were involved in the arrangement and that it was managing about 42 ATMs under the same arrangement. That number will grow as those banks add more ATMs and as we also expand and add more banks to the business. That is our second line of business, what I may call the 'manage services' line of business.
Ekajeh said the ATMC and Interswitch; another firm involved in the deployment of ATMs compliment each other in their businesses. “Just the same way that you can go to a bank-owned ATM with your Interswitch Card, we are a non-bank that own and operate an ATM that you can also use your Interswitch Card on.”
He noted that in terms of share holding, both organizations are owned by banks adding that their approach is that they want growth in the use of cards, as this would have positive impact on their income.
The ATMC chief said that beyond its relationship with Interswitch, it is opening up partnership with other firms in the Card business industry including ValuCard and Card Technologies Limited with the aim of allowing Vpay and MasterCard respectively in its ATMs.


“The idea from our own point of view is any card scheme where there is a significant opportunity in Nigeria, we ensure that they are usable in our machine to serve those customers and have the opportunity of making an income by serving them.” On the number of banks involved in the ATM partnership, Ekajeh disclosed that eight banks own the ATMC but that its membership was open to all the banks in Nigeria. “Today, about 13 Banks out of the 25 are live on our network; we are expecting the 14th bank go live before two or three weeks time. We are equally hoping that before the end of the year all the banks will go live in the network.” Ekajeh said even though its Quick Cash brand is for non-bank locations, the Consortium can as well deploy ATMs for a bank under the bank's brand.

When this is done according to him, the financing, operation and management is done by his Consortium. He said for the fact that some people are living in the rural areas does not in any way make them have lesser knowledge of how the ATM is operated. “If you have an ATM and somebody needs cash and believes that this is the way for him to get money of course, he will learn.”
The real challenge according to him is the minimal number of people operating bank accounts in the country because for anybody to use the ATM, that person must have a bank account.
“In the 100 years we've had banking in this country, we have managed to reach 12 million customers whereas in the first five years we had GSM, we have got to almost 50 million. So the challenge for us in this industry is why has the banks' population not grown at that rate all these while? Is it that we do not have enough bank branches conveniently located, if so can we not use ATM to extend those services to places that bank branches may not exist?”
Ekajeh advised banks to extend their ATM service to semi-rural areas where there exist filling stations and eateries as that was the only way by which banks can have presence in the rural areas.
“ATM provides alternative means for the banking industry to extend such services without the cost of building a big branch. All of these revolutions you are seeing on the ATM will help to make the 40 million population that the GSM operators have reached happen on the bank side as well.”

e-Tranzact Cards on Intercontinental Bank's ATM's

Intercontinental Bank has introduced another innovation that will enable customers of the bank use their e-Tranzact cards to transact banking activities on Intercontinental Bank's Automated Teller Machines.
Intercontinental Bank stated in a release that with the development, the bank has become the first bank in Nigeria to create a platform for its customers to use the e-tranzact cards on the self-service ATMs.
The statement added that the bank has through this innovation brought a convergence between Interswitch ATM Cards and e-Tranzact cards on its ATM machines.
“Before now, the use of e-tranzact cards was limited to POS. But with the successful configuration of e-tranzact cards by Intercontinental Bank, customers now have the option of using ATMs that are available in all branches of the bank across the country.
“This is another accomplishment in the bank's drive at providing seamless and convenient e-banking services and products to its customers at the comfort of their homes and offices,” the statement stressed.
e-Tranzact according to the statement, is the first online real-time payment system that allows account holders to pay for goods and services purchased from merchants, transfer funds to any bank account, cell phone, pay bills and order products without stress.
The statement noted that the bank has commenced the issuance of the cards to thousands of customers who are enthusiastic about the simple, easy and convenient means of payment.
The e-tranzact card business is managed by Intercontinental Direct, Nigeria 's largest e-banking platform created and designed by the Bank to deliver seamless and convenient banking services electronically to millions of Nigerians that are currently under-banked. It is the bank's strategic vehicle for achieving its bold retail banking vision of delivering banking services to all Nigerians, no matter his status, any time and any place.
Intercontinental Direct provides customers with non-stop access to their accounts 24 hours, seven days a week, third party transfer of funds, easy shopping with on-line payments anywhere in the world without cash through MasterCard.
It currently deploys over 20 seamless and convenient e-banking products and services to customers in the comfort of their homes and offices. The bank's professionalism and excellence underscore the growing support it is receiving from local and foreign institutions as it drives its strategic intent of being the number one bank in Nigeria.

How IT impacted on our services - Access Bank

Access Bank Plc has said that in planning for its integration in 2004, it was not unmindful of the enormity of challenges that lay ahead of it and the possible derailment of the process if not properly managed. Towards this end therefore, the integration of its information technology applications was imperative.
Speaking at the first Finance and IT Summit held recently in Lagos, Head, Information Technology Unit of the bank, Sina Joseph said to ensure that the project was concluded within approved time frame, a structure approach was adopted and some key success factors were identified and documented to drive and guide the integration.
“Recognition of effect of time frame in the success of such a project as discovered from numerous surveys which have shown that early and thorough planning have a very big impact on the ultimate success of a merger.”
Describing IT Integration or IT Systems Alignment as the process of consolidating the diverse systems, database and technology infrastructure of the merging entities into a single platform that will serve all the customers of the enlarged bank, Joseph noted that the bank took into cognisance, the effect that the failure to integrate the three systems and databases will have on customers, process and reporting.
“IT integration was therefore, focused on minimal customer attrition, full integration of all partners' active customer information on day one of cut-over, minimal disruption to business as a result of IT infrastructural failure; ensure all customers irrespective of former bank, have a unified experience in our outlets and ensure business continuity.”
Joseph stressed that Access Bank's experience in IT integration and the success it has so far recorded, were based on the application of best practice processes and setting clear goals adding that the bank never had any doubt as to what it wanted, which were properly documented and tracked.
He noted that the IT Due Diligence it carried out as part of its merger process had already prepared the bank for the integration. “We had information about all the applications and infrastructure deployed in the component parts. We therefore set to integrate them in a way that will reduce waste, cost and redundancy.”
The IT Unit Head said the bank's plan was to move all customers of the two merger partners to its existing core banking application, which he claimed had the capacity to accommodate all the accounts from the three banks without any performance issue.
He said that the bank successfully implemented its cutover programme and had achieved the objective of unified technology infrastructure and database of customers at all the bank's branches within 60 days of commencement of the integration programme.