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Following an impressive financial scorecard, a streak of award-winning, value-packed innovations, stellar growth in key areas and overall general momentum in performance, Wema Bank can boast of having capped a good year. Interestingly, the bank recently marked its 76th anniversary in May. Given an explosive scale of business re-engineering and process improvement, the anniversary was even more exciting and refreshing.

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Wema Bank’s silent revolution and transformation project, championed by the Ademola Adebise-led management, has shown profound visible impact and identifiable footprints, launching the bank into the orbit of the most efficient and value-driven financial institutions in the country.

Recent successes in technological innovations, workforce transformation, process improvements and the attendant culture of wholesale service excellence, development of customised, needs-satisfying products and services, as well as the adoption of creative relationship management systems, have all driven Wema Bank to the ivy league of banks in the country.

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Significantly, the unveiling of ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank in 2017, is still a game-changing milestone and an epic turnaround in the bank’s service delivery and customer satisfaction. With ALAT, a bank in function and utility, with the attributes of safety, convenience, flexibility, speed and being operable from home and office, the bank finally sealed a growing and enduring relationship with its customers. From that moment, it became a bank of preferred choice for customers who value convenience in banking.

Right from inception, ALAT opened the floodgate of recognition and industry appreciation, attracting applause and winning awards for its unique functionality and multi-purpose application. This penchant for driving customer satisfaction resulted in the bank being named second in Retail in the KPMG Customer Experience Survey for 2020.

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Wema Bank has also developed a niche in the consumer loan segment of the market, leveraging market intelligence and technology to develop products and services that are of significant benefits to its customers. Among these business-enhancing and personal target-meeting products are the ALAT for Business, Quick Loan (*945#), School Fees Advance, Women Empowerment Loan, which have made a big difference in the fortunes of the beneficiaries.

In online banking and alternative payment systems, Wema Bank’s USSD *945# is one of the most reliable data-free platforms for transactions, purchase of airtime/data and making quick loan requests. The bank has also built a firm presence with over 296 ATM channels across the country to ease banking for the customers. The online banking and mobile banking applications and the alternative banking platforms have strengthened the service delivery capacity and reach of the bank to a wider target audience.

With premium ICT infrastructure and a well-trained workforce, transaction turnaround time has also significantly reduced. Indeed, the fast customer service and reduced waiting time in the banking hall has triggered an unfathomable customer migration to the bank in recent years.

Having successfully laid the foundation of future growth trajectory through investment in human capital, technology, innovations and delightful customer service, the bank has already charted and laid out the strategic direction for future growth. Tunde Mabawonku, the Chief Financial Officer of the bank, while providing updates on the growth plans recently, listed digital dominance of the industry by Wema Bank as the route to travel in the next few years.

In this journey to the next phase of greatness, Mabawonku said they would deploy all energy and expertise towards consolidating on the inroads and success of ALAT in the market. The bank will drive digital banking on all its platforms to provide the best services to its customers, prioritise their convenience and satisfaction and, above all, consider their safety.

Speaking on the 76th-anniversary of the bank, Head, Marketing Communications & Investor Relations, Funmilayo Falola, said the bank has excellent reasons to celebrate by appreciating customers’ loyalty over the years.

“For the last 76 years, we have always made our customers’ dreams our dreams, and their goals, our goals. We made their satisfaction our number one priority. As we continue the relationship and grow together, we are honoured to keep our promise of providing innovative solutions to meet their various needs.

“Our longevity is not unconnected to our collective resolve as an institution to build our purpose around the customer. By committing ourselves to improve the lives of our customers and enabling them to make it through each day in the best and easiest possible ways with our products and services, we secure our place in their lives for the longest haul,” she added.

Incorporated in 1945, Wema Bank is the oldest and longest surviving indigenous Nigerian bank. It underwent a name change in 1969 from Agbonmagbe Bank Limited to its present name after some new investors bought into it. It became a public limited company in 1987, with its shares publicly quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1990 and got a Universal Banking License from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN ) in 2001.

Source: www.the nationonline.com