‘Customer is at centre of everything we do’

Carlos Wanderley is the head of retail banking at Union Bank. Under his leadership, Union Bank’s retail business has seen significant growth on all relevant retail banking indicators across customers, products and channels. He speaks on how ‘customer-led initiative’ makes the difference. Hope Moses-Ashike brings the excerpt.

How would you describe customer-led retail banking and how is Union Bank using this strategy to develop new offerings that are adaptable to different segments and markets?

This approach to banking starts with understanding the aspirations and challenges of customers and then developing or adapting products and services to cater to them. It is not about pushing generic products to them, instead customers lead the way while the bank innovates in response to or in anticipation of their needs. This is customer-led retail banking and it is altering the retail banking landscape.

Why is this approach useful? Because at the end of the day, it is the customer who pays the bills and no business can survive without truly understanding the customer.  At Union Bank, our customers are at the center of everything we do. All new offerings for our different segments are in response to their needs.

For example, based on research and customer feedback right across the country, we realized that there were very few actual savings products in Nigeria. We discovered that most people use their savings account as their day-to-day account which defeats the purpose of a savings account. While people wanted to save, a large number needed help disciplining themselves to do so.

To adapt our strategy to people’s needs, we introduced our UnionKorrect savings product. What we are doing with UnionKorrect is convincing people to save for at least one year to qualify for a raffle draw.  By incentivising them, we show our customers that it pays to save. Over the year, they see their savings growing and gradually realize that saving money helps them actualize their personal goals or projects.

Another example of this is the introduction of our Elite Banking segment. From our research, we realized that it was the norm in the industry for ‘personalized banking services’ to be reserved for high net worth customers. While we are focused on providing the best service for our high net worth customers, we also set out to develop tailored services for the emerging middle class, designed to meet their personal, financial and lifestyle needs, providing them with many of the value added banking benefits usually reserved for a small group of people.  Our Elite Banking customers enjoy benefits including a dedicated relationship manager, access to exclusive elite lounges located in specific Union Bank branches as well as priority pass cards which grant access to 850 airport VIP lounges around the world.

We go through a rigorous process for creating any new product or service for our different customer segments; focusing on creating offerings that help our customers succeed.

As a leading retail bank in Nigeria, how is Union Bank adapting to new challenges and increased competition in order to consistently deliver on evolving customer expectations?

Nigerian and African banks in general have started realizing that a structured retail banking segment is critical to the stability of the whole bank. From all indications, as we go into the future, banks will have to make adjustments and rely even more on retail banking in order to have a proper flow of revenue.

At Union Bank, we started that journey four years ago. A tremendous amount of work has already been done but we will not rest on our oars as there is still a lot to be done. Since our transformation agenda started about four years ago, we have become more innovative and process driven, which has been important in our quest to satisfy our existing customers and attract new ones.

We have also made a paradigm shift from relying on research companies alone. Instead, we are going directly to our customers and having genuine conversations with them. They are not telling us what we want to hear; they are telling us exactly how they feel. They are telling us about their dreams, desires and goals. They also share their frustrations, anxieties and problems. We in turn have taken their valuable feedback and looked inward to evaluate our people, structures and processes to develop solutions that will help our customers succeed.

We received the award for the ‘Most Improved Retail Bank’ in the 2016 BusinessDay Banking awards and this year, we won the award for ‘Fastest Growing Retail Bank in Nigeria’ at the International Finance Magazine awards. This is a testament to the definite achievements we have made in this area.

What efforts has Union Bank put in place to deepen customer relationships and focus on specific customer outcomes?

At Union Bank, we focus on the seemingly small things alongside the big things. We aim to ensure that our commitment to the customer is delivered at every touchpoint starting from how our customers are welcomed when they visit our branches to the turnaround time of our different banking processes. We have heard a lot of people say “You are different because you welcome us. Even your guards welcome us.” That’s the way it should be and we insist on this standard. People should feel welcome if they visit our branches.

I have used ‘if’ because with the exciting range of features on our digital platforms, our customers are able to perform banking transactions wherever they are and whenever they want without having to walk into a branch. This is another way we are improving customer satisfaction, through innovation. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we are constantly working to ensure we provide them with simpler, smarter banking solutions and services.

In addition, we have invested in our people. We are developing a well-trained work force fully capable of engaging our customers and delivering a robust banking experience every time. We have teams that are dedicated to helping our customers with their day to day requirements. One example is the Locate-an-Agent feature on our UnionMobile App which offers our customers the option to call up a Union Bank agent close to them so they can carry out banking transactions at a time and location convenient for them.

With this customer centric strategy, we have increased our customer base and grown customer confidence in us.

How important is it for Union Bank to attract a new customer base?

For a bank that is over a hundred years old, it is very important to attract a new customer base on an ongoing basis. Even more important is the need to ensure structures are in place to continue to satisfy the existing customer base as well as those we intend to attract. This is why we have invested so much in our people, processes and structures over the past four years, and because we have taken these steps, the growth is happening organically.

As people, especially the youth, see the improvement in our brand, our branches, our alternate channels and our digital platforms, they have become more attracted to us. As we continue to reach out to Nigerians and listen to them, we are building propositions and products that best suit their needs. Our efforts in this area are yielding tremendous results evidenced by the 90% increase in new-to-bank accounts at the end of the first quarter of this year compared to the start of 2017.

Looking at the future of retail banking, some have predicted that “the smart device will grow in importance and take its place alongside cards as the primary medium for consumer payment.” How does Union Bank intend to drive the adoption of mobile banking?

I expect cards to disappear altogether in the coming years. The pace will of course differ depending on the country and the society. In Japan, I anticipate that cards will disappear very soon and the focus will be on mobile banking. Any country that has a huge penetration in a modern payments system like Nigeria or Brazil or India can achieve this too. Nigeria has a huge mobile penetration though there are still some communication and infrastructural issues. The shift from cards to mobile payments is already happening and I expect it to accelerate.

At Union Bank, our recently upgraded digital banking platforms and newly introduced USSD code *826# have received very positive response from our customers and the general public. The exceptional features we have integrated into our UnionMobile App like Locate-an-Agent, Find an ATM with cash and the cardless withdrawals feature that allows users withdraw cash from our ATMs without their debit cards are unique and will continue to innovate.

The adoption of mobile banking by our customers has been impressive over the last 12 months and we are going to keep pushing the boundaries in our bid to continue providing simpler, smarter banking services to Nigerians.