Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, on Wednesday urged banks to make strategic partnerships with the financial technology sector to make banking easier for customers.
Adeduntan said this in Lagos during the bank’s Fintech Summit 3.0 with the theme, “Integrate: Banking +Tech = Solving Real Problems.”
He noted that the bank would continue to leverage on technology to enhance financial inclusion in the country.
“As a bank, we need to start thinking on how we can use Fintech to satisfy and deliver good standard of customer experience.
“We also need to brainstorm on how to harness the various opportunities the digital channels bring to us, hence the need for strategic partnerships with the Fintech sector. Our ability to leverage and disrupt innovation is what has kept us going,” he said.
Adeduntan noted that as part of their effort to strengthen financial technology, the bank had about 35,000 Firstmonie mobile agents to make banking easier for customers.
He said that technology had given the opportunity to leapfrog in Nigeria, urging banks and citizens to put it to good use.
Also speaking, Victor Asemota, Founder, Swifta Systems and Services, urged banks to use technology to provide secure and intelligent solutions to solve real problems for customers.
Asemota said that until banks began to understand what their customers want, they would not move forward in terms of innovation.
“Banks should be doing more of lending money to its customers rather than payment. Banks need to look at what their customers do and need in order to provide services that would solve their problems,” Asemota said.
He said that institutions would grow with the right people who are committed to efficient service delivery.
