Twice Bitten? But not today, Block Your Account quickly. These statements decode a lot for Access Bank customers to understand what the bank is really communicating to them.
Online banking has really made financial transactions very convenient in Nigeria and across the globe. But the setback is the fraudsters operating online.
This has given lots of banks a headache. Access Bank really cares about its customers. This crusade brought about this campaign, Twice Bitten, But not today, Block your account quickly.
It is to also alert Access Bank customers on what to do whenever they are in this situation, perhaps, your account has been hacked. Maybe you lost your ATM. Maybe the customer’s ATM was stolen etc.
Twice Bitten? But not today, Block Your Account quickly campaigns guides you on what to do abruptly.
However, this crusade was unveiled three days ago. And it has quickly gained ground in the South West of Nigeria. It is also spreading to the North West of Nigeria, findings. revealed.
Access Bank is working tirelessly to curb hacking of its customers’ accounts online as far as the Twice Bitten campaign is concerned.
However, Access Bank in its bid to enhance financial inclusion has noted its intentions to significantly increase its customer base and deepen the wallet share of the banking population riding on its agency banking platform.
Access Bank agency banking ‘Access Closa’ recently hit a milestone of having 100,000 agents currently spread across Nigeria as the bank further plans to increase its footprint by having a minimum of 50 agents in each of the 774 LGAs across the country.
The Group Head, Agency Banking, Access Bank Plc, Chizoba Iheme, in a chat with journalists noted that due to the limited number of financial institutions, especially in rural areas, Access Closa is Access Bank’s strongest retail channel used in providing banking services to a large population of unserved and underserved Nigerians.
She said: “Our plan is to bank one in two Nigerians as this will see us increase our customer base and deepen our wallet share of the banking population.”
“Going by the high youth and adult population, the resources of Nigeria’s financial institutions are being overstretched in providing physical and human resources and were unable to cope with gaps that existed in meeting banking needs of Nigerians hence the need for Agency Banking as envisaged by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013.”
“Therefore, Agency Banking helps financial institutions decongest crowded branches by providing a matching and more often convenient channel for their customers. In instances where reaching customers in rural areas is often highly expensive for financial institutions because transaction numbers and volumes do not cover the cost of a branch, agency banking helps in serving them.”
Furthermore, she added that becoming an agent has become a means to empower and reduce unemployment in Nigeria.
“Our commission structure allows an agent to earn up to N500,000 and more monthly in commission including incentives and opportunities for agents to grow their business and partner with a reputable brand is an attraction to the Closa brand.”
Furthermore, on risks associated with agency banking in the country and how Access Banks moves to mitigate it, she added: “There are four major risks that we have identified. These are Technological, Legal, and Fraud/Reputational. Assets.
“Technological Risk, to prevent software and hardware failures, the bank is investing in new infrastructure with the capacity to absorb service disruptions that will have minimal impact. As part of our onboarding process, the bank’s agents are required to execute a service agreement that stipulates the roles and responsibilities of each party.
Also, agents are trained at the point of activation on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Terrorism Financing. This training also takes place every year to reiterate the dangers and consequences associated with fraudulent actions. Besides, the bank has set a maximum daily limit on the amount and frequency of transactions that can be performed by an agent. Lastly, a quarterly risk profiling exercise is carried out on all agents for effective management,” Iheme added.
Access Bank is the leading retail bank in Nigeria with over 600 branches and more than 40 million customers. The bank offers products and services tailored to suit the lifestyle of every Nigerian irrespective of age and demographic.
