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We’ve Opened New Electronic Payment Frontier In Africa’ UBA DEC 4th 2016 "JUST THE FACTS FOLKS"

Chima Akwaja
— Dec 4, 2016 5:40 am | Leave a comment
Dr. Yinka Adedeji, Divisional Head of Consumer and Digital Banking, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in an interactive session with CHIMA AKWAJA and other select journalists, x-rays recent policy initiatives by the apex bank, new technological innovations developed by UBA and the future of e-payments.

Looking at consumer and digital banking convergence, how has your bank deepened its e-channels adoption?

We have put all units that belong together to work as one entity and under one umbrella. We are looking at the directions that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wants to push. We are also aligning with all the regulators’ rules in the other countries where we operate across Africa to push for accounts opening, access to financial services for the unbanked and underserved in rural and semi-urban areas through agency banking to drive financial inclusion.



Today you can open account online while your Bank Verification Number (BVN) can be completed when you come to the banking hall. If you already have an account with the bank, it is easy to just create another account either for your dependants or for any special purposes. Very soon, we would also create account opening process for online using the USSD to able to create new accounts. There are multiple names of account today and we are trying to simplify it and make it easier for people to have transactions with us.

The recent CBN’s approval for cheque lodgements in savings account, how has it affected banking?

Thanks to the CBN, it has allowed banks to service the country better. Now, you are allowed to accept cheque of up to N2 million per day into your savings account. You can look at it as something minor but I can tell you that it is a major change if you think about. You can run businesses having a savings account. It is a good thing.

For instance, if you get your dividend cheques, you can lodge them in your savings account, given the fact that you have BVN on your account. It is a beautiful thing and it makes banking more convenient. If you really think about, over 95 per cent of Nigerians probably receive cheque of N2 million per day. For SMEs, people that run businesses, people that run schools, they don’t receive more than a cheque of N2 million per day and this is a blessing. Majority of them actually come through electronic channels anyway. So, having this initiative is a plus.

What is the latest e-payment innovation from the stable of UBA?

EmailMoni is our latest innovation and it is the world’s newest game changing technology and will dramatically advance the payments landscape in Nigeria and across Africa. EmailMoni is a next generation payments technology that enables people and businesses to securely send and receive money electronically in real-time and at low cost using a downloadable mobile smartphone app or from a web app.

The EmailMoni web app can be accessed from any mobile device, any browser or any type of internet connected computer. EmailMoni allows people and businesses to pay and receive electronic payments securely in a number of easily accessible and convenient ways. Users can send and request money instantly using Microsoft Outlook email, or any web mail.

Money can also be securely requested and sent using Facebook, SMS text and other methods. Available on iOS on the Apple App Store and for Android on Google Play, the EmailMoni mobile app for smartphones will over time, interact with a card-less ATM network using Quick Response Code enabling cash to be deposited and withdrawn from the system at thousands of ATM locations in Nigeria and across Africa.

EmailMoni will enable faster more efficient payments for UBA customers who are billers, such as cable and utility companies. Customers can also send and receive secure payments instantly and conveniently, while non-bank customers will be able easily access UBA banking and payment services. We are proud to open a new frontier for e-payments in Africa with EmailMoni.

This conforms with our desire to continuously deliver innovative and convenient payment options to our customers. Our innovations in the digital banking space have been possible because of our huge investments in building efficient, trustworthy platforms. We assure our customers that we are committed to continually bringing the best in the financial technology space to ensure they always have the best and most convenient banking experience with all our service channels.

How will you assess the developments that have been shaping the e-payment sector in the last one year?

In the last one year, we have seen some very interesting changes that are positive in the e-payment industry. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed the penalty that was hitherto associated with digital payment and collections. Initially, you would have thought the reason people were using or adopting electronic payment of cashless scheme was because of the penalty.

Interestingly, the adoption continues and it is even going faster which means that the adoption by the people of e-payment is beyond penalty; it also hinges on convenience of doing banking as well as security that comes with, not necessarily as result of the sanction. So, without the central bank’s restriction, people are actually using e-payment which means it is the right time for cashless or electronic payment in the society.

At UBA, for instance, we have seen rapid changes so much that the deposits that comes into the bank is now about 70 per cent through digital channels, that is, all these instant transfers either by mobile internet, card transfer using kiosks, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) is now about 70 per cent compared to 30 per cent that comes through the branches where people bring cheque and cash deposits.

The proportion that comes through digital channels, that’s is , Point of sales terminals, instant transfers through other channels either from ATM, mobile banking, Internet banking and the rest now constitute 70 per cent in terms of inflow of money into the banks as deposits. The outflow which is actually payment by individuals is now over 80 per cent.

Over 80 per cent in terms of transactions count because what we have seen is that people don’t lump their transactions anymore; they actually do individual transactions even though the average size of a transaction, as we have seen, is relatively smaller because people are breaking up their transactions because they know they can always do it 24/7. These are new developments and they are very positive.

This also, therefore, has to shape the way banking is done. You will see that there is less emphasis on building of bricks. It is not just in Nigeria but also across the globe. It also dictates the way we do our business across Africa.
https://leadership.ng/business/562396/weve-opened-new-electronic-payment-frontier-in-africa