14 | The Lion King
Ask the Executive
to pick the customer’s number
from the SIM card and
compare it to the customer’s
registered mobile number in
the bank’s system. Personal
Identification Number (PIN)
will then be requested before
making any payment. On
U-Direct, you can only log
in with a log-in name and a
password.
After accessing a U-Direct
platform, you can only view
balances. When payments are
to be made, one time token
(physical or virtual) is required.
The limit of amount that can be
paid or sent is lower for virtual
token compared to higher
limits that can be sent using
physical tokens which can be
requested online but readily
available at all branches.
In addition, the bank has
invested heavily in security
monitoring capability that is
built to monitor and protect
unusual patterns or suspected
fraud. The bank has also
started the installation of
transaction fraud monitor-
ing module or “Actimize” as a
permanent solution to monitor-
ing all possible transactions
hitting customers’ accounts
irrespective of the channel the
transaction is coming from.
Anti-phishing is also being
put in place to automati-
cally detect and shut down
any rogue sites designed by
fraudsters to look and feel like
UBA official site with the inten-
tion of capturing customers’
information. All the new ATMs
deployed by the bank also
have level two Anti-skimming
devices. With all these in place,
The bank has a highly secured
IT platform.
What strategies are being
put in place to improve the
acceptance and uptake of
e-Banking?
UBA is driving e-banking
acceptance through ease of
enrolment and on-boarding,
unparallel convenience of use
and excellent experience from
first time of use, great support
in any case of dissatisfaction
caused by the platform, easy
process of logging complaints,
very quick turnaround for any
customer issues, awareness of
what the products can do and
presentation of the products
as solutions to everyday
problems.
Where are the future growth
areas in e-banking?
Immediate growth areas for
e-banking are in prepaid
cards and mobile service for
retail; and web payment and
consolidated but simple cash
management systems. In the
retail end, services ported to
mobile phones will grow at the
fastest rate. Most functions on
mobile will be applications
or mobile web app. Mobile
version of web will become
bigger as smartphone penetra-
tion increases and data cost
reduces as anticipated in the
future. Cards virtualization
and storage of multiple card
information on phones, and
shopping or payments will
grow as more phones grow in
size towards tablets.
Given the few unique identity
of individuals in Africa, the
lower KYC products such as
Prepaid Card will grow signifi-
cantly as the means of finan-
cial access.
An agency outlet that uses
inexpensive terminals such
as PoS presents a significant
growth opportunity. Regional
collection capabilities and
cash management will attract
businesses and governments
and become the attraction for
them to open accounts and
have deposits with the bank.
What is the next frontier in the
bank’s e-banking strategy?
The next frontier is Near
Field Communication (NFC)
payment instruments which
will come with payment cards,
in-built in mobile phones or as
sticker on mobile phones. NFC
will enable low value transac-
tion high speed transactions,
and reduce time of reading
card information and transac-
tion time.
1. Minimize complaints but
take ownership when they
arise.
2. Never simply dismiss any
complaint as an isolated
incident. Attend to it with
the serious it demands.
If the customer borders
to complain, then he is
genuinely aggrieved. Make
it right for the customer.
3. Fight to recover customers.
Experts say, if a customer
complaint is resolved, 95%
of those complainants will
return to do business with
your organization.
4. Listen to your customers;
they tell you what they
want and show the way to
bigger profits.
5. Educate your customers
about your products and
services, so they are well
informed about exactly
what they are getting from
you.
6. Always return phone
calls from customers and
respond to e-mails and
snail-mails
7. Be punctual for all custom-
er appointments. If you
are going to be late, call
the customer and explain
reasons why. Never keep
the customer waiting.
8. Do not make promises to
customers that you cannot
keep, minimise expecta-
tions but exceed delivery.
9. Add value. From time to
time, and within budget,
provide your loyal custom-
ers with rewards
10. Educate your customers
on your processes and
timelines so that he knows
what to expect whenever
he makes a request.
Ten Tips For
Excellent
Customer
Service
