Branch’s commitment to innovation: Breaking barriers to reliable financial services

Branch International Finance Company Limited is a digital financial platform with the focus to break the barriers that are limiting consumer access to reliable financial services through innovation. Major strength being the credibility it has been able to build and maintain with her users. Branch International in this interview with Business Day explains her expansion plan and strategies to reach larger customer base with secure and quality services.

Could you give us a brief overview of what Branch International does?

Branch International is a digital lending/banking app, building a new frontier of finance with possibility as the end goal. With more than 40 million app downloads across Africa and Asia, Branch is one of the most popular financial apps in the fintech space. All our products and app features are designed to fulfil our mission to deliver world-class financial services to the mobile generation. With the booming middle class in emerging markets across the world, Branch is committed to using innovation to break down barriers and provide access to fair, reliable financial services, and capital. At the core of Brach’s work is inclusivity. Branch offers equal access to its services – instant loans, bill payments, wallet transfers, and investments for all.

What makes Branch International a legitimate investment platform in Nigeria?

Apart from our commitment to helping Nigerians access excellent financial services – which includes helping them keep their funds safe and providing those funds when required, we are licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a finance company. This license provides us capacity to hold and manage customers’ funds. In a landscape with numerous investment platforms, how does Branch International prioritize its clients’ best interests and maintain a client-centric focus on its services? At Branch Nigeria, we prioritize our customers’ best interest by ensuring that their funds are carefully managed and invested in low-risk investment options. We also maintain a customer-centric focus by building trust with our customers. One of Branch’s values is “passionate about customers”. This is a major driver for the processes we put in place to ensure that not only do our customers feel safe entrusting their funds to us, but that they are treated as humans, not numbers.

Can you detail the range of investment products and services that Branch International Financial Services provides, including mutual funds, portfolio, and liquidity management services?

Currently, Branch has three investment products – Fixed, Flexi, and Target Savings. With the Fixed and Target Savings options, customers can get ROI of up to 15% per annum, while the Flexi investment option offers returns of up to 10% per annum. These investment options have unique peculiarities that make them different from the others. For example, the Target Savings investment option is primarily to help customers achieve a set goal.

As Nigeria’s leading personal finance investment Management company, what is your strength in the industry, and in handling competition, what does Branch International do differently?

We are a digital finance app with our major strength being the credibility we have been able to build and maintain with our users. We have seen from research and testimonials that the Branch brand is associated with ease, trust, and respect. In Branch Nigeria, we believe in a more collaborative approach of engagement, than competition. We engage with other players from a point of working together to help people access the best possible financial solutions. This approach strategically places us at an advantage when customers make decisions on the business to entrust their funds with and also lend from. What are Branch International’s plans for future growth and expansion, both in terms of product offerings and market presence, considering the evolving landscape of investment opportunities in Nigeria?
In the future, Branch Nigeria will be involved in activities that position us for growth and help us better achieve our mission to provide financial services to the mobile generation. One of the major steps we are taking to achieve this is to acquire an MFB license that will enable us to provide improved and more financial services to our customers. As an organization that is particular about research and using data to make important decisions, we are also looking to explore other channels through which we can serve our users. Currently, the Branch app is only available on Android devices. We hope to be present on other channels like web and USSD for customers to have offline and unrestricted device access to our services.