The banking industry has undergone changes, driven by the evolving needs of consumers. Today, there is a greater awareness among consumers than ever before, and they are demanding more from service providers. In other words, consumer behaviour is changing at lightspeed, resulting in the rise of Prosumers.
Particularly, Digital banking is becoming more attractive to customers, particularly to those that desire speed, efficiency and convenience. Wema has around 2 million registered customers that access their accounts every day, and the bank services those customers through several different channels.
The financial services of banks like Wema, has encouraged financial independence among its teeming customers. Customers are looking up to the financial institution to foster their personal economy and help manage their financial wellness.
In addition to this, technology only plays a vital role as both an enabler (infrastructure) and channel (mobile, web, and co.) via which services can scale exponentially. Wema bank has aided digital transformation. Digital transformation means truly rethinking customer experience, innovating business models, and institutionalising a digital-first capability from a people and culture perspective.
Under its MD/CEO, Ademola Adebise, Wema Bank is accelerating change throughout the banking sector in Nigeria. Its digital outlook and launch of ALAT reveal its efforts to create a financially inclusive and agile environment. It is a financial institution that prioritises customer experience, by deploying a range of services across different touchpoints to ensure it meets its customers at every point of interaction.
Adebise has held his current role since January 2017. Part of Wema’s executive management team since 2009, he has played a key role in the bank’s strategic turnaround. 2018 has been a transformative year for the banking sector.
“We have a dedicated call centre, called the Purple Connect, that attends to all phone inquiries from potential and existing customers. We also arm our contact centre with listening tools to respond in real time to complaints and inquiries made across social media platforms”, the MD said.
Financial experts recall that in 2009, Wema Bank brought new management on board to begin a transformational journey that has seen it become a regional bank in 2013, and back to being a national bank in 2015.
Since then the institution has experienced tremendous progress quickly and strategically. Wema embarked on a digital journey, with an aim to hold its ground and compete favorably against younger financial organisations. The institution has made banking easy for its customers, by streamlining all its banking services, enabling a frictionless banking process for customers while cutting operating costs.
The growing dynamism of financial services combined with the vast number of fintechs entering the market have forced banks and other financial institutions to do things differently.
Although these factors pose a challenge for banks, the changing environment, powered by digital technology, is also an opportunity for banks to set their course for a digital future.
Wema is making a huge investment in digital banking. This is evident in the rise in the mobile banking space of the bank. The star of the show that brought the bank into the digital age is its fully digital platform, ALAT.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
