Sterling Bank’s new devices enhance financial inclusion, education

As part of efforts to enhance financial inclusion and improve the quality of education among secondary schools, Sterling Bank plc has introduced two devices called ‘One Bank,’ a mobile banking phone and personal education tablet that contains books and all past questions and answers of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

According to Abubakar Suleiman, executive director, finance and strategy, Sterling Bank, the ‘One Bank’ branded mobile device serves the financial needs of the consumers while Personal Education Tablets for Secondary Schools (PETTS) meets the teaching learning needs of secondary schools while that of tertiary education is still in the pipeline.

The One Bank application involves the use of low-end phones at affordable cost to the customer, and will give customers of the bank easy access to inter bank payment without any stress and improve efficiency of financial transactions.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, he said the application will improve security of financial transactions as it will be impossible for anybody to use the application if the phone was stolen or lost, because only the account holder would be privy to a code number that would be generated by the bank for the purpose.

“The application is expected to come with special security features in addition to the general existing security for banking applications. This will make it difficult for the phone to be used by any other person apart from the account holder,” Suleiman said.

The branded phones have all the financial services installed in them, and costs about N3,000, which will be spread over a period of time to allow every class of the society to benefit from it. Those who prefer to use their old phones will have the application preloaded once they approach designated branches of the bank.

The products are targeted at male and female residents in semi urban and densely populated areas like Ogijo, Dopemu and Ikorodu in Lagos, Ibadan, Yenagoa and Kano metropolis, he said.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE