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How Sterling Bank leads lending, investing and credit rating features using WhatsApp

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WhatsApp
  • Sterling Bank Leads with Lending, Investing and Credit Rating Features on WhatsApp with Clickatell’s Chat Banking Solution
  • Customers can now initiate bank transfers, and airtime and bill payments, check balance and BVN enquiries, as well as statement generation directly on WhatsApp with the aid of Kiki

Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, in collaboration with Clickatell, a global leader in mobile communications and chat commerce, today announced a unique and very personalised banking experience for existing customers and prospective account holders through the popular messaging app – WhatsApp. Customers can now initiate bank transfers, and airtime and bill payments, check balance and BVN enquiries, as well as statement generation directly on WhatsApp with the aid of Kiki, a new personalised financial assistant.

The financial assistant also connects customers directly to customer service, making dispute resolution seamless.

Designed to provide personalised service to every customer of the bank, Kiki possesses conversational intelligence and will answer questions related to personal finances once prompted.

Kiki makes initiating banking transactions as easy as chatting with friends through the bank’s verified WhatsApp number – +234 906 000 6449.

Group Head of Digital Banking at Sterling Bank, Oladipo Alabede, said “Delivering banking on WhatsApp for instant messaging is desirous by our customers who want a reliable, convenient, and safe medium to perform basic banking transactions on their mobile devices. It eases the stress of moving between apps before transactions can be concluded.”

According to Alabede, WhatsApp is easy, safe, fast and secure. “It has improved security that prevents fraud and enables customers to have access to all their accounts. The service is designed for self-service registration and the customers can sign on from any location. The current features of the app include Sterling to Sterling and Sterling to other banks’ transfers, airtime top-up, bill payments, balance enquiry, BVN enquiry and statement generation, among others.”

“We are pleased to help Sterling Bank enable chat banking on WhatsApp, making banking services available to its customers anytime and everywhere on a channel they use daily,” says the Director – West Africa for Clickatell, Samson Isa.

He added, “Chat banking is the future of financial services with bank customers preferring the channel for conducting routine banking, as it is fast, simple, and secure. We are proud to be leading this shift in financial services, along with customers like Sterling Bank.”

For a customer to get started, Alabede explained that he or she would need to follow three simple steps.

  • Firstly, the customer would have to save the mobile number +234 906 000 6449 as a contact on his/her device and should remember to save the number as “Kiki.”
  • Secondly, once the number has been saved, the customer should start a conversation by typing “Hi,” “Hello” or “Hey,” among others, and sending the message to Kiki.
  • Lastly, the prospective customer should agree to the terms and conditions by sending “I AGREE” followed by the account number to Kiki. Thereafter, an OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number for validation. The customer is also expected to set a transaction PIN using his/her debit card.

Alabede said the customer must use the mobile number registered on his/her Sterling account to enjoy the service.

He added that a new set of features will soon be enabled, as the bank is exploring ways to serve customers better with the introduction of micro lending, micro investment, account opening, card request, and credit rating, among others.

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Finance

All You Need To Know About Dr. Adaora Umeoji, The New GMD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc

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On June 1, 2024, Adaora Umeoji will become the new Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, replacing Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose five-year term ends on May 31, 2024. Zenith Bank announced this on its website on March March 19th 2024.

The appointment is a historic moment as Adaora Umeoji becomes the first female GMD/CEO since the bank’s inception in May 1990.

According to the bank’s statement, “Her appointment is consistent with the bank’s executive transition tradition, succession plan, and strategy of grooming leaders from within.”

Adaora Umeoji has almost thirty years of experience in banking. She previously served as the deputy managing director of the bank, a role she assumed in October 2016. She has been with the bank for nearly twenty-six years.

Early Life and Education

•Dr. Adaora’s journey began in Jos Nigeria

• She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Jos, a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and a first-class honours degree in law from Baze University, Abuja.

•She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, a Master in Business Administration from the University of Calabar, and also has a doctorate in business administration from Apollos University, USA.

• She holds a Certificate in Economics for Business from the prestigious MIT Sloan School of Management, USA, and has attended various management programmes in renowned Universities around the world including the strategic thinking and Management programme at Wharton Business School, USA.

•Umeoji is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, where she attended the Advanced Management Programme, and an alumnus of Columbia Business School with a Certificate in the Global Banking Program.

Dr. Adaora’s Professional Ascension

•Umeoji has been the Deputy Managing Director of the bank since October 28, 2016 and has close to 30 years of banking experience of which 26 years has been with Zenith Bank.
Adaora Umeoji, founded the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), a platform she uses to promote ethical banking and service to humanity.

Chart Success In Leadership

• Umeoji being the first female to be appointed as GMD of the bank effective June 1, 2024
• Dame Adaora Umeoji stands as a shining example of empowerment and leadership and as a role model for aspiring individuals worldwide.

•Despite her accomplishments, Adaora Umeoji emphasizing the importance of humility and focus on one’s mission.

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Finance

Binance To Discontinue All Nigerian Naira Related Services

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Cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has announced plans to discontinue all services related to the Nigerian naira.

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, was accused of exploiting the Nigerian currency, Naira, leading to its free fall in value.

The company is, in addition, facing allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering and tax invasion, among others.Nigeria is one of the largest peer-to-peer crypto markets in the world.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, crypto transactions in the country reached $56.7bn, according to Chainalysis.But the company, in a statement on Tuesday, advised users to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets or convert NGN into crypto.

The statement read, “Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services.

“From 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts will be automatically converted to USDT based on the conversion rate below.

“Binance will not support deposits of NGN after 2024-03-05 14:00 (UTC). Withdrawals of NGN will not be supported after 2024-03-08 06:00 (UTC).

“After 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), Binance will convert any remaining NGN balances in users’ Spot and Funding wallets into USDT on behalf of users at a ratio of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.

“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.

“The conversion may take approximately up to 24 hours or longer. USDT tokens will be credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter, and users can confirm receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

“If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion.”

Recently, the government through the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

Binance customers are asking if Binance is leaving Nigeria completely.

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“I And My Team Are Not Responsible For The Woes That We Have Today ” – Current CBN Governor

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Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has said that he’s not responsible for the economic challenges facing the country.

Cardoso said this at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting under his leadership on Tuesday, February 27. He also said that the CBN is taking necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal.

He said;

”I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor; I and my team, are not responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence; there was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”

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