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e-Business
We
Are Re-engineering Our Processes For The Future-Amagwu
Deputy General Manager
and Head of e-Banking of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Theodore Amagwu
spoke to IFEANYI OSUEKE on the uniqueness of e-Banking
services of the bank and why the foremost financial institution is
on a re-engineering process…
What is your impression about the
banking industry, especially now that it has become IT-driven?
The banking industry is becoming more exciting in the sense
that we now have a system that is being controlled properly
by the authorities. Also, because technology has taken over,
we are seeing situations where banks that will rule the
future must align their processes to technologies of the
day.
The summary is that the industry is becoming more exciting.
What do you have in your e-banking portfolio?
The emphasis for any bank that will survive the future is
retail
banking and like you rightly
said, e-banking is taking the centre stage. We are re-engineering
our processes; I am sure you are aware that Accenture has spent about
a year and is spending another year with Union bank. We have a project
that we are running called GEAR. The whole idea of the project is
to move from good to great. We are realigning our processes, products
and repositioning ourself in the industry. To achieve this, we have
set several corporate goals.
E-banking is now more of customers focus department that is expected
to make profit for the bank. We have restructured the department.
Like you know, the trend in banking has moved from the regular issuing
of cheques to card system. The emphasis now is on card, issuing out
card products. The customer is the card; and the cards enable the
customers to have access to our services. We have our ATM services
with a projection of hitting 1,500 ATMs before the end of this financial
year. We are also pushing out Point Of Sales (PoS).
The future of transaction in Nigeria and the world lies in PoS because
it is the customer that has PoS that will continue to remain your
customer in the future. But unfortunately, the deal between the ISOs
and Interswitch was not favouring the ISOs. The ISOs invested so much
in PoSs without a commensurate profit. So the banks are looking for
alternatives to pushing their POS into the system.
We also have the Internet banking channel and so on. We are creating
card scheme, we have basic card product that we are giving to all
our customers for their business transactions. We are pushing out
Visa Card, Prepaid Cards which are international cards. We have eTranzact
cards which are virtual cards at the moment. They are tied to the
mobile phone, which is what we use in building our customers in mobile
banking services.
You can also through our mobile banking services pay for DSTV, load
your airtime, transfer and so many other things you can do with our
Union Mobile. We also have the Union Galaxy, an arm of it we pay to
individual customers and corporate customers. For Corporate customers,
it enables them to pay salaries, pay vendors and suppliers and a lot
of other services which are tied around cards; that is why I said
card is the customer.
How then do you react to insinuations from the public that there are
so many cards around such that people tend to be confused? When you
discuss cards with people, the response is usually that people carry
many cards abroad but, I have always told them that abroad they refer
to is where card started. But I think that it will be nice if we can
get a system where we can minimize the cards to about one or two-multi
functional cards, particularly with chip-based cards we can achieve
multi functional cards.
But the way business
is done now especially as card is replacing cheque, most banks
would want to issue their own cards to their customers and as
long as that happens, customers are likely to carry different
cards from different banks. It is actually difficult to legislate
on cards but at the end of the day, it is the customer that
would decide which
card to carry.
Is there any regulatory body in Nigeria on the use of card?
CBN is supposed to have a committee on that but, I tell you the truth
which most Nigerians don't like accepting; we really don't have good
card experts in Nigeria. You know card is an evolving technology even
outside the country but like anything that comes to Nigeria, everybody
claims to be an expert.
One move the CBN is making is that they have assembled bankers to
come together and talk about the direction of card in Nigeria banking
sector. What they need to do is to get their own staff properly trained
by MasterCard and Visa because those are the people who lead in the
card industry in the world, so that when they are regulating and directing
they would understand which direction the country should go.
But there are tendencies that some banks would want to dominate and
move it towards their business direction. CBN should set out the regulation
from the way it is done in other countries. If you look at the card
world, America is not emphasizing chip card, they are still doing
mass stripe but the good thing about America is that they have a good
legal system so that if you violate the law you will be prosecuted
unlike our own legal system; that is why we are still emphasizing
on security.
One of the reasons why chip cards are expensive is that they are made
outside. We should advance to a point where chips can be manufactured
in Nigeria; our population is quiet large. Look at Europe, everything
is made in Europe yet Nigeria is almost larger than the whole of Europe.
At whose doorstep should blame be placed for security lapses
in our card payment system, the payment institutions, the switching
company, or the card developers?
The banks and all these people you have mentioned are partners. If
you understand security relatively; if you build a much secured house
with all security gadgets intact but with a bad house-help, all she
needs to do is to disengage the security at night and the robbers
will come in.
You cannot put the blame
fully on the banks, the switching company, the card company
nor the society. It is interwoven and there is nothing we can
do than to perfect our individual and collective security system.
However, I still maintain that before fraud is committed, there
is usually a compromise; it is either the staff
compromises deliberately
or inadvertently.
What do you say about government's directive to banks on migration
to EMV?
The idea of migration to EMV is something people should embrace and
I think the Central Bank should consider extending the time as they
are already considering, because investment in EMV is quite large.
To discard all the mass stripe cards that we have and replace them
with EMV is not something that should be done in a rush.
I see the same hype that was the case in year 2000 when everybody
was excited about the Millennium bug. At the end of the day, the consultants
and contractors made all the money may be something would have gone
wrong if they did not do what they did. It is the same thing now,
we are all stampeding on the EMV and I see a group sitting back somewhere
waiting for all of us to be throwing in money.
And this money we are throwing in does not belong to the bank, it
belongs to the shareholders. So we have to be careful and have these
things planned out well with the Central Bank.
What is unique about Union Bank's e-banking services?
Our products are wholly customer oriented. Our products are fashioned
at sustaining that quality of service that Union Bank is known for.
Yes, we lag behind at some point which is associated with age and
size but with the engineering that we are doing now, people will see
a new improved Union Bank.
These things are going to reflect on the services we render; people
should be a little more patient. We are coming out with very distinctive
products such that at the end of the day, old and new customers will
really know that there is a turn around.
What is your take on the allegation that banks are discouraging
local software development by patronizing foreign software?
When most banks were acquiring software, they did not have very robust
local software. Also, there is the issue of personal style in the
acquisition of some of these things and you know that we have always
had the mentality that anything that comes from outside the country
is better even when a Nigerian developed it here and send it abroad.
We always feel it's better if it comes from outside; whichever is
the case, I think it has to do with our psyche.
What are the challenges in growing e-banking in Nigeria?
The challenges of electronics banking in Nigeria are infrastructure
and socio-cultural. The average Nigerian likes carrying cash; until
that mentality is eradicated, embracing card which is the centre will
take a while. Again, security is another major obstacle in this milieu.
The security I am referring to is not just electronic security but
environmental. You and I know that even when a robber is caught with
stolen money, he could also go free let alone someone who stole or
moved money nobody saw him when he did.
Lack of knowledge is another major issue; it is difficult for most
of our professionals to accept that they lack knowledge rather they
maneuvre there way through and that is why things are getting very
complicated. If we can all calm down, study, work out plans, remove
personal agenda, things will work well not only in electronic banking
but in Nigerian economy as a whole.
Progenics
Boss Advocates Tech Approach for MFBs
The managing
director and chief executive officer of Progenics Corp Limited,
a total technology solutions provider for the financial and
other sectors of the economy, Tony Udoh, has advised Microfinance
Banks to embrace effective technology outlay if they want to
create a niche and position their bank as a market leader especially
in this age of information technology, according to a release
by Newswire@s457.sureserver.com.
Speaking recently during the Finance IT Summit organized by
TechnologyAfrica for microfinance Banks, Udoh said that the
role of technology in relation to people is complementary; adding
that the extent to which
technology will serve a purpose
depends on the people with the most effective technology solutions.
In a paper he delivered at the event where he was a resource-person,
the Progenics' boss advised that Microfinance Banks and other financial
service institutions should use software that are adaptable enough
to allow for wide definition of products with different behaviours
and at the same time be flexible enough to allow intra product variances.
His words: “The proper differentiation of the various offerings
of a firm is essential in the creation of a formidable marketing niche
and this is what we at Progenics Corp Limited seek to achieve by providing
microfinance banks and other financial sector players as a whole,
with a software that is flexible and adaptable, that is SymbolsM.
He said that SymbolsM is application software that enables the ability
of the financial sector to manage their available financial and other
resources for the provision of capital and running cost, adding that
the product is a demonstration of the potentials of local software
developers to develop applications that are of international standard.
He urged MFBs to patronize the software as this will help reduce their
running cost.
In addition, Udoh said that SymbolsM is user friendly without compromising
security and it produces useful and timely reports that can be accessed
by the customers through the Internet or telephone.
“We
are urging the sector to engage in constant training of its staff
as technology is dynamic and anyone who does not continually get himself
updated would soon become outdated,” he concluded.
Pesapoint,
M-Pesa In New Deal
Safaricom, Kenya's
listed mobile service provider has signed an agreement with ATM service
provider PesaPoint. The deal will allow M-Pesa customers withdraw
money through PesaPoint ATMs.
M-Pesa customers will not need a card to access money in the 110 PesaPoint
ATMs spread across the country, according to sources close to the
deal. However, further details are expected during the signing at
Safaricom House, Nairobi.
Safaricom launched M-Pesa in March 2007 as a mobile phone payment
service to enable customers make financial transactions including
money transfer. M-Pesa allows one to deposit, withdraw and transfer
money and also buy Safaricom pre-paid airtime. Users deposit their
money with authorized M-Pesa agents and make withdrawals from the
mobile service provider's M-Pesa agents.
However, to extend M-Pesa, Safaricom has signed agreements with Equity
Bank, Post Bank and mortgage provider Housing Finance to use their
wide network across the country as outlets for M-Pesa.
Registered in 2005, PesaPoint's vision was to provide all banked Kenyans
easy access to their funds wherever and whenever it was required whilst
at the same time encouraging more Kenyans to bank by providing relevant
and convenient ATM locations.
GTB
Launches New TVC
From
inception in 1990 to date, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc has
remained an indomitable player in the banking industry.
A professional and dynamic yet, very informal body, GTB believes
in building an institution that will outlive its founders and
serve as a yardstick for measuring service delivery within the
financial services sector.
The belief that one will always attain
success if he sets
out to do the right thing sets them apart from other players in the
industry.
To them, they are not afraid to work in any part of the world as far
as they continue to maintain international standards, which are prerequisites
for successful corporate entities.
To remain vibrant therefore, GTB looks for ways of re-inventing itself,
weaving new themes into life narratives, remembering past and re-visioning
the future.
As large emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil are playing
an increasingly important role in the world economy, entrepreneurs
and corporate CEOs in these countries are aspiring to build world
class businesses. The Nigerian environment is not different as the
quest for attaining a world class status has become the focal point
for most businesses.
In keeping with this tradition of innovations, building excellence
and superior financial performance, and creating role models for the
society, GTB is introducing a new television commercial (TVC) tagged
“QUESTIONS”, the first of its kind in 15 years.
The TVC according to the visionaries harnesses the positive mystery
that revolves around service deliveries in Guaranty Trust Bank and
explains the reason for being able to meet up with the needs of its
customers even in the midst of diverse needs.
Briefing the press at the premiere of the new corporate TV commercial
recently, Lola Odedina, a deputy general manager with Guaranty Trust
Bank remarked that as ambassadors of best of Nigeria, the new TVC
is not just about GTB but peculiar to anybody that wants an answer
to the what, where, why, and why not of any phenomenon and how they
can unlock the opportunities that others are not aware of.
She reaffirmed that GTB is able to unlock opportunities and provide
exceptional services by asking the right questions and providing the
right answers.
The TVC commercial which has a large amount of local content she said,
is intellectual and speaks to the highly intellectual Nigerians without
segregation. The payoff she also said is retained because of the company's
dedication to consistency, transparency and maintaining standard.
Shot in the UK and Nigeria, the new TVC arrays a blend of local and
international models from the stables of Quest Publicist, an advertising
agency based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Equity
Goes Mobile In Kenya
The next battle frontier
for banks will be fought on the mobile phone, signalling a widely
anticipated drop in banking transaction costs by customers.
It also means that bank customers will enjoy convenience, easy
access to their money and more secure services thanks to technology.
Already, Equity Banks' 2.6 million customers can enjoy such
benefits after the bank officially launched a mobile phone
banking service, Eazzy 24/7,
taking its branches to the mobile handset devices and increasing its
customer base. Cost effective and adaptable, the service is expected
to bring in more people into the formal banking system that currently
has 4.5 million accounts countrywide.
“Banking the
unbanked has been a challenge for banks and Eazzy 24/7 will help reduce
transaction costs and greatly improve the national payment system,”
said Central Bank of Kenya governor Njuguna Ndung'u.
Most banks charge an average of between Sh150 and Sh200 and Eazzy
24/7 will charge Sh50 to transact within its bank. While such a transaction
will only take minutes, transferring funds to another bank will follow
the normal interbank process and duration.
Two Equity account holders with Safaricom lines can now credit and
transfer cash into each other's account using their mobile phones
in real time, subject to the availability of funds. Equity bank clients
will also be able to pay their utility bills, purchase airtime, request
their bank statements and perform 13 other crucial banking enquiries.
“The mobile phone boom has laid down a strong base
for low cost banking and the growth of mobile phone solutions in rural
Kenya shows that it can attract customers,” said the bank's
chief executive, Dr James Mwangi.
GTB:
Delivering E-Banking Services With Passion By ROMMY IMAH
As
a major player in the airline industry, we are fussy about standards -
performance standards, service standards, ethical standards, you name
it. And with the value and number of transactions we deal with, we naturally
want a bank that values the things we do
“That's why we bank with Guaranty Trust Bank. They've removed the
burden of handling cash from us, made it convenient for us to receive
our daily statements and even made it possible for our customers to make
KLM flight reservations via their website! They are professional, effective
and full of integrity…what more could we ask for?” - Rajesh
Singhvi – KLM
This is one out of
the many testimonies people have had to make about Guaranty Trust Bank Plc,
incorporated in July 1990, as a private limited liability company and wholly
owned by Nigerian individuals and institutions. Since it commenced full
operations in February 1991, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has proved that it
is out to play a leading role in banking business in Nigeria and the continent
of Africa.
As a high quality financial services provider with the urge to be the best
at all times whilst adding value to all stakeholders, Guaranty Trust Bank
Plc is gifted with a team driven to deliver the utmost in customer services.
It is a bank synonymous with innovation, building excellence and superior
financial performance; and creating role models for the society.
The banking sector in Nigeria has since the consolidation exercise a couple
of years ago, been experiencing a revolution of some sorts especially in
the areas of traditional service delivery and customer relations. Banking
transactions unlike in the pre-consolidation years are now done with greater
ease thus saving the bank customer a lot of time for other things as well
as other inconveniences.
The new found stress-free transaction era in the country's banking sector
has been attributed to the deployment of robust Information Technology (IT)
applications and solutions by Nigerian banks in line with what has become
a global trend. These IT applications have obviously been responsible for
the successes recorded by banks in their retail and e-banking services.
However, even as some banks
have established unmatched pedigree in the quality and robustness
of e-banking solutions they deploy, some others are obviously lagging
behind in this regard. While some banks are thriving on real-time/
online banking, others are yet to embrace this new order.
And this is where the problem lies.
But if there
is any bank in Nigeria that has successfully latched on the importance of
IT solutions for driving modern banking transactions, it is Guaranty Trust
Bank Plc. And it is for this reason that the bank has won uncountable awards
from local and international bodies since commencing operations leveraging
on its massive deployment of modern IT banking applications.
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc is noted for its deployment of robust applications
to drive all services under its e-banking platform including mobile banking
and Internet banking services. This is in response to global trend where
IT applications have taken banking to a new height entirely. This development
has undoubtedly put it ahead of its other competitors in the market place.
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc unlike some of the other banks doing business in
Nigeria boasts of an array of products in its e-banking portfolio. There
is the AutoPay, the MasterCard, GTPay, Point of Sale (PoS) Terminal, GTPayDirect,
GTConnect, GTBank V-Pay Card and the WebPay services.
While the bank's Internet banking service is a reliable and flexible way
to manage finances efficiently and conveniently, its Mobile banking services
make the cell phone do a multi-purpose work. GTB customers now monitor their
accounts with their GSM phones anytime and anywhere. The bank on the other
hand sees this technology as a way of delivering fast and efficient banking
services to its customers.
The AutoPay (Automated Payment System) is a solution which allows for the
online, real-time processing of salaries as listed on a payment schedule.
It leverages Interswitch's connection to various banking applications from
different banks to power online, real-time electronic transfer of funds
from a company's account to those of its different employees and contractors
in reliable and secure manner.
Guaranty Trust Bank is a subscriber to MasterCard, a global payment card
medium and one of the most recognized and respected e-payment brands in
the world. This card can be used to effect business transactions worldwide.
The Guaranty Trust Pay a.k.a
GTPay is a Secure Internet payment gateway that facilitates payment
on the Internet across various banks. GTB customers can use their
debit card with the InterSwitch logo to pay their bills, goods and
services from the comfort of their office or home, with an audit trail
to view and reconcile all payments made. With GTB Point of Sale (PoS)
terminal local debit cardholders are allowed to make payment for goods
and services in a retail environment.
GTBank PoS terminal is a convenient, modern and efficient means of
processing payment online and real-time as value is credited to the
Merchants account within 24 hours.
The types of PoS currently available in the bank's bouquet are the
Interswitch, MasterCard and Visa PoS terminals.
As a multipurpose online payment device, these terminals can be used
to perform a variety of financial transactions such as: Printing mini
statements, Cash advance, account balance enquiry, loading funds from
a current/savings account unto a cash card, as well as vending airtime
(recharge) among other transactions. The benefits derivable from this
service are overwhelming.
GTPAYDirect is an
online transaction processing electronic payment solution from Interswitch
designed to facilitate payments collection and the effective monitoring
of such payments. The solution runs on a multi-bank platform thus enabling
an organization to monitor its account positions in other banks.
GTPAYDirect supports payments made via cash, cheques, drafts, debit cards
and credit cards.
Guaranty Trust Bank is reputed to hold its customers in very high esteem
explaining why as a Guaranty Trust Bank customer, one can have access to
banking services from the comfort of his home, office, or car.
A telephone call to any of its dedicated GTConnect lines and a confirmation
that the customer has been profiled on the system ensures that GTConnect
provides instant access to the customer's account information from a touch-tone
telephone set regardless of his location.
What this service does is that it saves the customer the time and effort
of visiting a branch and leaves his valuable time free to pursue other important
assignments. GTConnect is a fully interactive, automated, self service contact
centre where you can do 85% of your banking transactions from the comfort
of your home or office from any location in the world.
GTConnect enables the customer to perform so many transactions including
Balance enquiry, inter-account/own transfer, obtaining of transaction history,
Statement request via E-mail, Cheque confirmation, Third party transfer
to any GTBank account, Cheque book request and request for Cheque to be
stopped.
Others are obtaining information on the bank's products and services, obtaining
information on its ATM and Branch locations, obtaining information on its
subsidiaries like GT Assurance, GTB Registrars, and Offshore Banks in the
Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
The GTBank V-Pay is a Naira
denominated multi-purpose debit card issued to GTB customers, and
linked on-line real-time to their accounts. It can be used to withdraw
cash from any Automated Teller Machine (ATM) nationwide 24/7 and is
used to pay for goods and services on V-Pay enabled point of sale
terminals (POS) at merchant outlets. As a firm
believer in the deployment
of technology as a sine qua non for effective and convenient customer-focused
banking services, Guaranty Trust Bank's membership of the Interswitch Consortium
shows its commitment to innovation and continuously providing customers
access to a wide range of technology driven tools.
WebPAY for instance, is a new payment engine tool that enables developers,
system integrators and merchants to integrate an online payment facility
to their website. It is a simple clickable link that plugs into web projects
irrespective of the development platform.
The payment Engine easily integrates on-line payment capabilities into existing
applications and hooks up to InterSwitch's enabled debit card infrastructure.
This eliminates the costs of developing individual payment processing modules,
giving one-click access to customers' bank accounts using bank debit cards
securely protected by PIN and allows for the future integration of payments
across multiple portal applications.
GTB's passion for 'Banking Made Easy' could perhaps be located in its brand
essence, which is 'precision'. It is the single concept that drives the
understanding of the Guaranty Trust Bank Brand. It is the one word that
best personifies the behaviour, products and services of the Bank. It is
the summation of Guaranty Trust Bank Brand Muscles.
The choice of the Orange colour explains the deep joy and bliss felt when
the sunshine rays of divine energy enter the physical being. Orange indicates
a person who is sociable and loves to be in the company of others. It can
also indicate a gathering, social event or celebration.
Orange relates to a person who has great practical “hands on”
skills. Orange personalities are friendly, have a ready smile and quick
wit, and are fluent if not profound in speech. They are good-natured and
gregarious and do not like to be left alone.
Guaranty Trust Bank's steady growth built on quality and robust services
expectedly, has not gone unnoticed by local and international agencies and
organizations. It has over the years received several awards, recognitions
and accolades. And these have all combined to boost the bank's reputation
as one of Nigeria's most profitable and fastest growing banks.
The bank has severally been rated by very reputable agencies like Augusto
& Co's triple A, Fitch's AA- and Standard & Poor's BB- ratings.
Those ratings have been described as the best ever assigned by the two international
rating agencies to any Nigerian or West African bank.
Till date, GTB has won close to 40 Awards since commencing business in 1991.
In fact, only recently, the bank won the '2008 Best Bank in Mobile Banking'
Award at the prestigious Nigeria Telecoms Award. The award was in recognition
of the bank's innovative alternative service delivery channels GeNs and
GTConnect.
Customers are kept abreast of transactions on their accounts through Guaranty
electronics Notification system (GeNs) while GTConnect; Nigeria's first
fully interactive contact centre allows customers of the bank conduct virtually
all banking transactions; anywhere and anytime.
The award no doubt is a testimony of GTB's leadership position in e-banking
business in Nigeria. In fact, analysts insist that with the bank's opening
of offices in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and lately United Kingdom,
its e-banking portfolio will swell as it would deploy additional e-banking
solutions to serve its teeming customers better.
GTB has indeed proved that modern banking is driven by technology. Little
wonder its work environment is built saliently on Total Quality Management,
and a thirst for excellence in every of the bank's transactions. There is
therefore, no doubt that quality is an integral part of the bank and delivering
quality is the only way it would continue to sustain its competitive advantage.
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