Follow Us on Google
The Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs Tomi Somefun, has called on Nigerian women to see initiatives that promote gender balance as opportunities to excel in their chosen careers even as the bank launched its Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking in Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo to boost its existing e-payment channels.
Somefun made the call in Lagos in a remark to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD).
She said that “gender balance initiatives provide opportunities that must be explored by every woman.”
The Unity Bank chief welcomed efforts that have been put into achieving gender balance in recent times which she described as very purposeful, noting that women in career jobs which were fewer in number before this time had to fight for space.
She said: “Certain roles are now assigned to women. But I think that beyond that, as women, we should not fall back and relax. We should earn whatever space that is given to us and excel at it. Being a woman should not be an excuse for not doing well”.
Meanwhile the bank has said has said its Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, (USSD) banking recently launched in th three major languages – Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo is to help boost the existing e-payment channels available.
A statement by the Bank adds that “the upgrade in the features of the transaction on the platform is part of Unity Bank’s initiatives aimed at achieving an optimal level of interaction on the USSD banking channel. It is targeted at market segments at the lower level of the pyramid intended to drive greater financial inclusion in the country as well as deploy more solutions for fast, efficient and convenient banking, whilst targeting the underbanked”.
Commenting on the initiative, the Group Head, Retail, SME & E-Business, Unity Bank Plc, Olufunwa Olugbenga Akinmade, said that the solution would boost the existing e-payment channels available to bank’s customers to further drive customer experience.
He stated that it would also help to deepen mobile payment and contribute to Nigeria’s drive to meet the 80 per cent financial inclusion target this year.
“What we have done is to expand the channel of access to our offerings. Nigeria’s teledensity, according to the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, is at 91.1 per cent as of 2019. This means that a solution like this will resonate with millions of Nigerians who are more comfortable transacting in their local languages,” he said.
He added: “This solution has now added to the bouquet of mobile solutions the bank has introduced recently to cater for the youth, mass market and MSMEs as we move to promote retail and SME business by enhancing mobile payment solutions to meet the needs of our customers.”
USSD transactions have gained traction over the past five years among bank customers, compelling Nigerian financial institutions to make it a core component of their e-payment solutions.
