The Lion King | 5
C
onsumer banking, (also
narrowly referred to
in many literature as
Retail banking) is a strategic
division of commercial banks
which enables banks to focus
on individuals (consumers)
rather than on corporations or
institutions. Financial services
packaged for individuals are a
viable banking business which
offers opportunities for growth
and profits. This is even more
important in Nigeria, where a
large percentage of the popula-
tion sits predominantly in the
mass market segment of the
entire banking space. Recent
surveys show that this sub
population is either unbanked
(about 56 Million according to
CBN figures)) or underserved
by the banking sector despite
its huge potentials for stable,
low cost fund and substantial
income potentials.
UBA Plc is strategically
positioned to harness this
huge potential by our offering
of a wide range of products,
services and solutions, tailored
to enhance the customer experi-
ence and ensure that the bank is
a one-stop shop for retail clients
or consumers. To underscore
the bank’s determination to
ensure growth of this segment,
the bank in January 2013
created “The Consumer Banking
Group” with the mandate to
champion this cause and make
the bank the leading institu-
tion by 2015 in meeting the
various needs of individuals and
small businesses. For effective-
ness, the Group is run through
two key Departments: Retail
Products with responsibility for
the Savings Products suite, as
well as remittances (Africash,
Western Union and MoneyGram)
and Consumer credit /Product
developments with respon-
sibility for Credit products,
Current accounts and Product
developments.
Unlike the past, the Consumer
Banking Group is now firmly
responsible for driving the
Product sales through the Bank’s
Relationship Managers (RMs)
and with the support of the
Retail Products Sales teams,
also known as the Electronic &
Personal Banking Sales (EPBS).
These teams interface with
the sales teams at the Business
Offices, the Business Managers
and the Regional Banking Heads
to drive quality and sustainable
consumer experience. The sales
teams are comprised of two
members each in Mass Market,
Mass Affluent and Small &
Medium Business units replicated
in all branches and Business
Offices of the bank. These teams
work together to drive a positive
customer experience and
ensure it is far reaching on all
customer touch points.
To ensure we stay ahead of
competition, the Retail Product
Development and Manage-
ment team (the group think
tank), is mandated to deliver
on the four major drivers of
customer experience namely;
Product Expectations, Service
Expectations, Brand and After-
Sales Expectations. The team
anticipates customer needs in all
possible forms, even before they
emerge and seek all possible
ways of exceeding such custom-
er expectations. It is through
this team that the group hopes
to remain proactive in product
strategy, product development
and product positioning through
regular competitive analysis and
product research. This is depict-
ed in the diagram shown below:
Drivers of Enhanced Customer
Experience
To further enhance customer
service and experience, we
also deliver a broad range of
products to our largely diversi-
fied customer base, through
our wide branch network,
ATMs, cards solutions, mobile
and internet banking solutions.
Our unique bouquet of retail
products seeks to exceed the
growing expectations of our
esteemed customers and to
continually reach out to the vast
population of the unbanked
by supporting them in build-
ing a financially secure future.
This we have started with the
bank’s variants of Freedom
Accounts (Basic, Medium and
Classic accounts) designed to
adequately cater for this hith-
erto underserved segment. With
the Freedom suite of accounts,
Artisans, Craftsmen, Semi-Skilled,
Unskilled, Traders, Apprentices
and the likes can have banking
accounts with little or no docu-
mentation.
Our U-Gold Savings Account is
By Ilesanmi Phillips Owoeye
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Customer
Experience
...our offering of a wide range of products, services and solutions,
tailored to enhance the customer experience and ensure that the
bank is a one-stop shop for retail clients or consumers.”
