Recognized for its innovation and commitment to the provision of quality banking services across all segments in the nation’s Banking industry, Sterling Bank Plc at the weekend bagged the Award for the Innovative ICT Banking Product of the Year.
At the Nigerian Telecoms Awards held in Lagos Nigeria, the product “Social Lender” was adjudged the most innovative banking solution and this comes barely two months after the Bank was awarded the “Most Innovative Award” at the BusinessDay award event.
Social lender, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the Bank is a peer-to-peer quick cash solution using Twitter and Face book, two of the most important social media platforms popular among young Nigerians. Launched by the Bank over two months ago and with over 3000 requests and 2000 processed, the solution developed by BINCOM ICT, a partner organization on the project has bridged the gap of immediate fund access for social media users.
The Award, according to the organizers, was based on the overwhelming industry recommendation of very competent officers, coupled with the independent research and assessment of the sector.
The citation reads: “On this note, we confirm that Sterling Bank’s Social Lender has been awarded the Innovative ICT Banking Product of the Year. Your product ‘Social Lender’ is a unique solution with corresponding huge impact on the society. It is on these grounds, the Body of Assessors, Panel of Judges and Board of Trustees of Nigerian Telecom Awards find your Bank worthy of this noble and worthy recognition”
Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, the Secretary General of Nigerian Telecom Awards explained how award recipients were selected: “The race for the 2014 awards began in August with performance monitoring of the various possible nominees.
Speaking on the Award, the Bank’s Executive Director, Strategy & Finance, Abubakar Suleiman described the Award as a reward for innovation stating the position of the Bank on supporting creative solutions and ideas.
His words: “At Sterling Bank we continue to look for ways to make banking easy for all Nigerians by introducing simple but innovative products and services to meet their needs. We are therefore delighted by this Award because it shows that people have taken a keen interest in what we are doing and also that we are making the right impact.
“As a bank, we cannot overlook the importance of Social Media in today’s society; this new line of service has put Sterling Bank in a vantage position to sustain its position as an organization that understands the needs of its customers and leverages relevant platforms to proffer innovative solutions which in return enrich their lives”.
Suleiman who assured that the Bank will continue to introduce innovative ways to ensure the empowerment of Nigerians irrespective of their social status said that he was impressed by the attitude of beneficiaries who are paying back the cash advanced in record time.
Sterling Bank Plc. is a leading commercial bank in Nigeria and one of the country’s fastest growing banks.
Originally incorporated in 1960 as NAL Bank (the country’s first investment banking franchise), it acquired the operations of the erstwhile Equatorial Trust Bank in November 2011 in pursuit of its growth and expansion plans. The bank currently operates out of 170 branches, about 5000 POS and over 504 ATMs across the Nigeria.
