Digital Pay Expo 2018: Diamond Bank partners CBN, NCC, others to drive financial inclusion
Diamond Bank PLC has affirmed its commitment to provide financial services to the unbanked population in the country as it partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among other stakeholders to drive financial inclusion.
Speaking at the launch of the annual Digital Expo conference and exhibition held in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Uzoma Dozie, highlighted the importance of identifying the key requirements of the unbanked and unserved market segment as this will enable financial institutions to develop and create products targeted at meeting those needs.
Dozie, who was represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Business Development, Chizoma Okoli, also listed some of the steps Diamond Bank has taken to ensure that financial services are available to all.
He said: “Part of our activities in this space include the development of products such as the BETA and CLOSA accounts. BETA targets market traders and also supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The BETA account employs agents (called BETA friends) who go to the areas of comfort of these market traders and offer them all the financial services they need without impacting on their way of life.
Similarly, “the CLOSA account was created for those without Banks in their areas. People of influence in the community were selected to act as agents of the bank to ensure trust and those in the community were assured that the Bank would assume responsibility for their money once it was deposited with the agents”, Dozie added.
The event themed: “Innovative Financial Services for the Vast Unserved Segments” was also aimed at addressing different segments of digital financial services with focus on how such services can leverage on technology to bring access to the markets at the bottom of the pyramid.
In his remark, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the commission has been in the forefront of promoting financial inclusion through the provision of proper information technology infrastructure.
The NCC boss who was represented by the Head, Competition and Tariffs of NCC, Mr. Bashiru Idris, noted: “In the past, money orders and the use of intra-city transport was used to send money down to those in the hinterlands but the growth in the telecommunications industry and that of financial services has overtaken these methods. However, there still remain areas of improvement in these areas.”
He affirmed the commission’s commitment in its quest to ensure an enabling environment for the financial industry through the provision of efficient information technology infrastructure.
By Opeyemi Kehinde, @kennysous, Dailytrust.com.ng
