Tolulope Ibukunoluwa
It is a new age for banking in Nigeria, given the disruptive changes to the banking landscape. Ours is an era of data-driven insights, with the value for banks now lying in the quality of their data. To stay afloat in today’s digital landscape, banks now need to integrate their products/features with customers’ unique life moments to engage with them in a more meaningful way. It has become critical for banks to invest in reusable, technical assets and continue to bring new propositions to market.
In the years before 2017, banking services in Nigeria were predetermined – based on capital adequacy, branch network, products, and rates – no one could have ever imagined the time would come when carrying out a bank transaction could happen on one’s mobile device.In 2017,
Wema Bank Plc, driven to redefine banking for us all, chose a life of speed, access, partnership, and trust for its consumers by launching Nigeria’s first fully digital bank – ALAT by Wema. One thing became immediately clear: banking at the speed of thought and desire had never been impossible; we just believed it wasn’t.
So, Wema Bank Plc took matters into its own hands and led the “Bank of the future” movement in Nigeria by creating Nigeria’s first fully digital bank, ALAT . It broke barriers and gave a foretaste of what’s possible.After this bold and innovative move by Wema Bank, we have witnessed the launch of digital banks every single year since then.
A month ago, Polaris Bank announced the launch of its digital banking platform, VULTe.In March 2020, V Bank, a product of VFD Microfinance Bank was launched. In June 2020, former Diamond Bank chief executive officer (CEO) and tech entrepreneur, Uzoma Dozie launched digital banking startup Sparkle. Sterling Bank Plc. also launched a new but simple banking application its customers can use for all banking and payment transactions.In 2019, QuCoon—a fintech and consulting firm—launched Rubies Digital Bank. Eyowo, which had been a mobile money service for two years, was also re-launched as a digital bank.In 2018, online savings and lending platform—Kudimoney—mutated into Kuda Bank.
Many tech experts have argued that Kuda bank is the first truly digital bank in Nigeria, because, at its launch, Kuda bank had no affiliations to a traditional bank, unlike ALAT which was affiliated with Wema.ALAT’s launch was an earth-shattering shift in the Nigerian banking industry.
This disruption in banking and digital services gained momentum with a straightforward hypothesis: Banking is no longer somewhere you go but something you do. And the customer who used to be king will become a highly impatient, skeptical, and cynical dictator.
Since its inception, ALAT by Wema has shown that the future of banking will hinge on the degree to which banks leverage the unique opportunities they have, how well they use the wealth of information at their disposal, the extent to which they capitalize on the insights they hold, the innovation that they can birth, and the extent to which their strategy, processes and activities revolve around consumer’s everyday life.User-centricity has played a critical role in ALAT by Wema’s success. An obsession with the user, completely immersing itself in the user’s problems and thinking about the user from start to finish has been integral to their processes.
In a nutshell, everything users go through when trying to use the ALAT app is about them.And this is big news, especially when user habits and preferences are rapidly adjusting to a world where speed, efficiency and multiplicity are the new normal. Users now want a bank that provides the solutions to their problems and answers to their questions instantaneously on their mobile devices. They want financial information and the ability to transact at the push of a button.
This is what ALAT by Wema has represented in the past 4 years. A bank that doesn’t just take money from users but partners with them to grow their money, like it’s doing with the ongoing ‘earn on the go’ scheme – an opportunity for customers to earn money to referring the ALAT app to others. A bank that users can access at the speed of choice. A bank that empowers users to bank on their terms. A bank that understands users, their uniqueness, preferences, prejudices, and individual expressions. ALAT is just getting started and will keep pushing harder and faster into the futu
