By Stephen Ubanna
In spite of the down in the nation’s economy, particular, the nation’s Financial sector, which had made the Money Deposit Banks, MDs,B in the country, to work in bits and fits or closing down some of its braches in the cities on the orders of the Boss Mustapha, Chairman Presidential Task Force on COVID 19 and Secretary to Government of the Federation, as a result of the Wuhan Town in Hebei Province of the Asian country of China emerged coronavirus, popular, COVID 19 , the United Bank For Africa, UBA, plc, a Pan African Bank, appears to have kept to its promise of putting smiles on the faces of its Customers.
While other MDBs, are still struggling to mobilse deposits at this trying and difficult times to be in the race for sustaining its the banking operations, the Pan African Bank, under the close watch of Kingsley Uzoka, according to insider sources has not been running after depositors to swell up the rank of the bank Customers in order to boost its Financial base.
The Pan African Bank, the source said has been more concerned on how to meet the demand of its millions of customer in Nigeria and other parts of the world by keeping to its promises. Recall that the Bank , which is never tired of initiating new ideas as part of efforts to carry the Customers along had cinitiated the monthly and quarterly Bumper Account Draw which kick-started last January.
The Draw, supervised by the Lagos state Lottery Commission and other relevant government agencies personnel was said to have started last January as planned. With the monthly Draw, 100 Bumper Account holders who participate in it by fulfilling all the laid down conditions of maintaining the minimal Bumper Account deposit of N5,000.00 were rewarded. For the current Account holders who want to migrate to the Bumper Account in order to participate in the monthly and quarterly Bumper Account Draws, appear to have given a soft landing to do so. They are expected to dial *20*1# while other potential Customers should dial *919*20# if interested in opening the Bumper Account to make it a reality.
The bank may have changed strategy of organising the Draw in the full glare of the Lagos state Lottery Commission and other government agencies personnel as a result of the lockdown necessitated by COVID 19. Instead of inviting the selected lucky participants to appear at the Bank Head office at Marina, Lagos, for the Draws, the bank was said to have resorted to transmitting the message to them via the Facebook platform.
In Compliance with the Law abhorring large gathering of people in a place and the Social Distancing rules of the Chikwe Ihekweazu, led Nigerian Center for Disease and Control, NCDC, and The World Health Organisation, WHO, a health agency of the United Nations, to curb the spread of COVID 19, the Bank Draw Organising Committeee were said to have reached out to the selected participants for the lat Wednesday edition via the Facebook platform in order to prepare their mind for it.
It was not surprising why the June edition of the Draw, which was held last Wednesday at the Bank Headoffice was transmitted live via the Facebook platform to avoid accusations of Favouritism. A staff of the Lagos state Lottery Commission who spoke to the Value News on phone described the conduct of the virtual Draw as very transparent, advising other Banks , involved in organising such Customer-related Draws to take a cue from UBA to avoid wrangling after the exercise.
Going by the previous Draws which were held between March and May, 2020, in which the winners were contacted through their mobile phone numbers known to the Bank, the situation was not different this time around. The latest set of winners from the Bumper Account Draw who received the N0.1 million alert in their respective mobile phones could not hide their feelings of joy.
One of the winners was said to have rushed to the Bank Marina Headquarters out of happiness, where he was said to have showered praises on the Uzoka led Management for putting smiles on his face and others in this trying and difficult times. People who saw him had mistaken him to be a mad person until they realised that he was celebrating the N0.1 million won from the UBA most recent Bumper Account Draw.
The lucky UBA Bumper Account Draw winner who had the ‘’mark of joy written all over him’’ was said to have told those that cares to listen that the N100,000.00 won from the Draw, will go a long way in solving part of the family financial needs, particular, settling the accumulated debts incurred in the last three months as result of the lock down necessitated by the COVID 19. The feeling of the Lagos born winner of the Draw was not different from the feeling of others in other parts of the country.
Jude Anele, Group Head , Consumer and Retail Banking of the pan African Bank who was said to have congratulated the participants and winners of the Draw , had urged those who lost out not lose faith. ‘’There is another time’’he said.
Anele , was said to have told the winners of the monthly Draw, that ’’ they were rewarded for their loyalty to the bank’’, noting that the Bank is very much interested in ‘’supporting Customers as it remains passionate about their success and overall growth’’.
The UBA Group Head Consumer and Retail Banking , disclosed that ‘’there is no other better time to give back and reward the Bank Customers than this challenging economic period where people need all the support they could get to make life more meaningful’’. He avered that the essence of rewarding the loyal Customers of the bank is to encourage them to save regularly.
Michelle Nwoga, Group Head, Marketing and Customer Experience, may have given an insider information about the Bumper Account when he explained that the main purpose of the Account is ‘’to ensure that Nigerians fully embrace the savings culture’’. According to him, the monthly and quarterly Draws will go a long way to assist Customers in this hard times by providing them with Funds that will help ease the difficulties occasioned by the COVID 19.
The UBA Group manager, had said that the Bumper Account also has a monthly shopping allowance of N0.1 million for grabs. She disclosed that ‘’ no fewer than five such Account holders will get N2 million each across the six participating regions : north central, north east, north east, south east, south-south and south west , every quarter.
She revealed why the bank has continued ‘’ to invest in cutting edge technology that guarantees ease of doing business as it is evident in its recent mobile Application upgrade which offers a more interactive , user friendly interface that makes available a myriad of opportunities from the Customers ’homes’’.
One key point of the Application, she had said was ‘’ the live chat option, where users can communicate on the go with dedicated staff trained to assist with any enquires and challenges, biller verification as well as Group transfers’’.
Note this new menu, where users can create groups , could facilitate the transfer of Funds to up 100 members at a go from the group. She had asserted that the Application can as well, prompt users to use their device enabled biometrics, noting that the menu has been reduced and divided into sub-menus to enable users view transaction History, net worth, trends among others at a glance.
The magazine had tried it and found it to be real . The information volunteered was very surprising it shows the Company transaction History , an information that could only be available in the past by the Bank Front Desk officer. Many believe that UBA had constantly been updating its technologies to keep abreast with what is happening in other Banks of equal status in other parts of the world. This may have informed why the Pan African Bank is far ahead of other MDB, across the country. and the African Continent