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From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier financial inclusion services organisation has launched its sixth fully automated branch, the FirstBank Digital Xperience Centre at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State.
Speaking in Nsukka on Wednesday at the First Bank’s UNN branch during the unveiling, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Bank, Mr Olusegun Alebiosu, said that the future of banking is digital and FirstBank is prepared for that future to serve their customers better.
He said that the Digital Xperience Centre is a significant leap by FirstBank towards revolutionizing the banking industry in the country as it is a state-of-the-art hub which puts customers at an advantage in experiencing world-class innovative banking services thereby exploring the future of banking firsthand.
“The Digital Xperience Centre is designed to cater to the growing and evolving needs of consumers and the banking public, enabling customers to navigate the digital landscape with confidence.
“The initiative aligns with the Bank’s commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences and staying at the forefront of financial innovation.
“The whole idea is to make it easier for customers to transact and do their banking business any day any time without spending much time at the bank because the service runs for 24 hours both on weekends and public holidays,” he said.
Explaining further, the Managing Director noted that other locations with previously commissioned centres are Adetokunbo Ademola branch, Victoria Island, University of Ibadan, Wuse Branch, Abuja, Banana Island and Admiralty Way, adding that the bank has plan to establish more of this digital experience in many universities and other branches of the bank nationwide.
“The upcoming generation is digital, they only know phones and transfers. So, we are preparing the future for them by creating a banking service that would be faster and more convenient.
“You can come to the digital hub and request for replacement of your lost or expired ATM card through the machine, and in three minutes you have another ATM card. You can deposit your money, do transfers and receive transaction alerts immediately as well as withdraw cash without ATM after putting in your account number, fingerprint biometrics which the system will confirm before responding to your request,” he said.
Alebiosu noted further that the Digital Xperience Centre at the UNN is the first to be launched in the southeast zone, adding that the bank has a good age-long relationship with the university.
“Our partnership with UNN has endured for many decades, the land where we built our branch was given to us by the university free of charge because of our cordial relationship with them. First bank pledges to maintain that relationship with the institution,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr. Calistus Obetta, Group Executive Manager, Technology, Digital, Innovation and Service said that the Digital Xperience Centre is one of the initiatives of the bank geared towards making banking services and transactions smarter, quicker, and easier for customers.
“With the digital xperience hub you can open your account, update from your account, withdraw and deposit cash among other things digitally and self-service,” he said.
Obetta expressed appreciation to their host, UNN, and his colleague from retail banking, South and Eastern part of the country, General and Branch Operation Manager, Marketing Corporate Communication Units for their contributions in making the digital hub launch successful.
Earlier, Prof. Oguejiofo Ujam, the Acting Vice-Chancelor of UNN commended the bank for choosing the university as their first branch for the Digital Xperience Centre in the southeast zone, adding that the hub will afford staff, students and members of the university community a seamless banking experience with first bank.
“We appreciate the CEO coming to UNN to inauguration first bank Digital Xperience Centre which is the first in the southeast zone.
“We have been doing business with First Bank for many years and we value partnership as well all the support the bank has been giving to UNN, we see this hub as an honour done to the university by the bank,” he said.
The highlight of the occasion was the official commissioning of the first Ban UNN branch Digital Xperience Centre by the First Bank CEO.
