Business
UBA reaffirms commitment to customer satisfaction
BY EMEKA EJERE
Pan-African financial services provider, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has stated that the recent transformation of its processes is to ensure that customers’ expectations are not only met but surpassed through seamless and world-class banking services.
The head of Operations, UBA, Alex Alozie, who disclosed this during a virtual media parley on Wednesday, October 7, to mark the 2020 Customer Service Week, noted that the bank has intensified its focus on putting the customer first while maintaining its leadership position.
According Alozie, some of the several initiatives the bank has embarked upon to this end include: streamlining and automating its processes, upgrading technology, training, and rewarding staff excellence.
Alozie said that in line with this year’s theme, the ‘Dream Team’, which embodies UBA’s core goals, the bank has recorded considerable milestones in its journey.
He said, “In the last one year we have embarked on an intensive drive to transform our services across all service touch points, including but not limited to banking halls, channels – internet, mobile, USSD among others in Nigeria, Africa, and territories where we operate.
“We have ensured that our customers enjoy self-service, where they can carry out their transactions seamlessly on their devices, without visiting the banking hall. This has further boosted customers’ confidence as the services provide ease and convenience, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alozie argued was a blessing in disguise as brought out the best of the bank.
“With newly improved products like UBA Connect – where our customers can carry out transactions from anywhere in the world and our recently improved Mobile App, our uptime has improved significantly, and our branch operations have also recorded considerable improvement. All these are the outcome of the transformation journey which we embarked upon,” Alozie noted.
He, however, added that there have been cases of failed transactions, saying that the bank has taken relevant corrective and preventive actions for service improvement.
Also speaking, UBA’s group head, Marketing and Customer Experience, Michelle Nwoga, noted that the bank is focused on being more intentional in the quality of service delivery to customers.
Nwoga disclosed that strategic initiatives have been implemented to deliver a differentiated experience to customers across all service touch points.
According to her, UBA is keen on meeting the demands of today’s diversified customer base by focusing on innovation, process re-engineering, experience optimization, technology upgrade among other things.
“This is all in our effort to improve our service delivery, improve our customers’ satisfaction, and deepen our market share”, she said.
Continuing she said, “Apart from this, we have also embarked on thoroughly equipping our people to deliver exceptional service, while also leveraging on data for insight to guide business decision making.
“We are no longer a one-size-fits-all organization, as we now personalize services based on individual specific demands. This is largely because we know that the customer is the only one that matters, and we tailor all our activities in line with their expectations.”
The Customer Service Week, which is celebrated annually all over the world, recognizes the importance of customer service and seeks to show appreciation to the staff who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism. UBA does not stop at any point in ensuring that its customers get the best of services.
For instance, the bank had a couple of weeks ago disclosed that it had invested significantly in cutting edge technology in a bid to boost its overall service offering to customers. The development was a further demonstration of the bank’s unalloyed commitment to ensuring premium services as well as reaffirming its dominance across Africa.
To reinforce its commitment to first-rate experience, the lender introduced numerous unique features on its mobile app and other digital platforms that set it apart, allowing customers carry out banking transactions seamlessly across all channels.
Disclosing the features in an online press conference intended to keep customers informed about the bank’s efforts in enhancing their experience through its digital platforms, Samson Aneke, group head, Digital Banking at UBA, noted that the bank had taken steps ahead of its peers to navigate alternate banking channels in a bid to serve its customers better amid the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and beyond, even as it braces for the challenges of the new normal as a result of the pandemic.
Aneke had said, “In recent times, we carefully observed what people encountered after the day the Federal Government eased the lockdown intended to flatten the Coronavirus curve (COVID 19).
“It was a terrible experience where customers crowded many banks to access their funds. So we on our own decided that to use that experience to further improve on our alternative channels in a bid to enhance customers experience.”
He continued, “What our customers will be getting now is an enhanced value that places us firmly ahead of our contemporaries in service delivery. Today, as we speak, they do not necessarily need a card to withdraw cash from any UBA ATM.
“Simply dial *919*30*Amount# for a cash withdrawal code, you will be required to create a onetime pin (OTP), then enter the PIN to get a Paycode directly from your UBA Account to Withdraw the cash. At the ATM, enter your Paycode, OTP, Pin, Amount and Phone Number to get your Cash.”
UBA is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-one million customers, across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.
With a presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.