Ecobank has won two major awards at the just ended African Banker’s ceremony held in Busan, South Korea.
The bank was named Best Retail Bank in Africa after impressing judges with the strides it has made to leverage digital financial services and an enhanced service model, to be the retail bank of choice.
The ever improving feature set of the bank’s Ecobank Mobile App, which has now been downloaded by more than 5 million people, took the prize for Innovation in Banking for redefining borderless and inclusive banking, along with several other transformative innovations designed to deliver financial services to all.
The African Press Organisation (APO) Group quoted the Publisher of African Banker, Omar Ben Yedder, on the bank’s double awards as saying that “Ecobank has had a game changing year in so many ways and their approach to embracing technology and putting it at the centre of their growth strategy has obviously paid dividends.”
In his remarks, an elated Group Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Ade Ayeyemi, said that it was delightful for the bank “to be recognised as not only the Best Retail Bank in Africa, but also the Most Innovative, adding that the recognitions further proof that that the bank is on the right track in its quest to be the bank of choice for middle Africa.
“We will continue to ensure that we are at the forefront of harnessing state-of-the-art technology to provide our customers with accessible and affordable banking services”, Adeyemi assured.
Commenting, the bank’s Group Executive, Consumer Banking, Patrick Akinwuntan, said: “Ecobank represents more possibilities for every African. Our Ecobank Mobile App, Xpress Account, Ecobank Pay, Xpress Points and Rapidtransfer are fast becoming top-of- mind consumer banking brands that represent convenience, affordability and instant fulfillment to our customers across Africa and in the diaspora.”
According to the management, the bank is committed to providing the range of financial products and services that meet the day-to-day banking, transactional and investment needs of all Africans.
The management disclosed that Ecobank enjoyed a 40 percent increase in customer numbers during 2017 and that the bank was targeting 100 million customers by the end of 2020.
The Ecobank Mobile App aims to deliver real convenience to customers and with its removal of barriers to entry, at affordable price points, is an integral part of Ecobank’s strategy. It is the first unified banking application across 33 countries and enables customers to do their banking activities where and when they want, 24/7 and 365 days a year, conveniently on their mobile phones. It allows transactions in 18 different currencies and in four languages (English, French, Portuguese and Spanish).
The app includes the multi-featured digital payment solution, Ecobank Pay, which enables customers of any bank to pay for goods or services. It unifies all of Ecobank’s digital payment offerings for internet payments, paying bills and airtime top-ups by mobile.
