Ugo Aliogo
The Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, has said the bank has recorded significant growth in its retail and digital banking segments.
Onyeagwu, who disclosed this in Lagos recently, during the Zenith Christmas Youth Parade (ZCYP), added that the key growth indicators for the bank in 2019, have been growth along the deposit line and also growth along fees and commission accruing from its retail and digital channels.
“If you look at our nine-month results for this year, compared to the previous nine months, you will see that in terms of our fees and commission on electronic channels, we grew by 100 per cent, so that shows that in terms of the digital, retail and electronic space, we are growing steadily,” he remarked.
He also stated that the bank has become more creative and was looking at other innovative ways of making money beyond the traditional banking model, saying, the tough banking environment has challenged the financial institution to be more dynamic and innovative.
Speaking on the essence of the event, he stated that the bank would continue to be creative and innovative in terms of the projects it would embark on not just in the business space, but by intervening in corporate social responsibility (CSR), noting that the youth parade was a major part of the bank’s social investments.
He added that in 2020, the bank would continue to elevate its commitments to ensure that it gives a lot more back to the society and also continue to innovate to ensure it creates products that meet the needs of customers.
According to him, “The thing about technology is that it has always been part of us at Zenith Bank. We have always been a technology-led institution, and we have applied technology to our business from the start of the bank.
“When we started, the first banking package known as Zenith 2000, it was developed in-house and today most of the conventional products you see in the digital space have been developed and nurtured by Zenith Bank.
“When it comes to technology, we are very profound. There is no elegance in regulation, but it challenges you. But what we do is that we build strategic imperative out of regulation.
“Financial inclusion is a steady thing, if you look at the number of the unbanked in rural locations, and the strategy being applied to reach them in terms of agency banking, it is an all encompasses model that ensures that every bankable individual comes into the banking space.”
The ZCYP is a CSR initiative of the bank aimed at supporting and empowering the Nigerian child. The participants were drawn from selected public schools, alternative care homes and family-like care centres across Lagos. The initiative which is in its 14th year is designed to occupy the youths meaningfully during the yuletide season through funfair and youth-development activities.
