Recently, BusinessDay ran stories on SunTrust Bank Nigeria, the newest baby in the banking industry. The fascinating thing about the bank is its disruptive proposal to be the country’s branchless bank.
You may ask, “Branchless?” Muhammed Jibrin, CEO of the bank explains “SunTrust Bank will bring banking to your home rather than you come to us. We will be everywhere but we will be nowhere. We will offer telephone, mobile and internet banking underpinned by the traditional banking ethics of probity and integrity.”
What he is saying in essence lends credence to the saying, “A bank is not where you go, a bank is what you do.” Online banking is seen as the future. It is a future where you will not feel compelled to walk into a bank before you make deposit, withdrawal, transfer, or even get a loan. It is a future where you will sit down a home, on a bus, a cinema, in a church or while on a journey you are able to carry out a transaction.
Online, for banks like SunTrust, is the major solution to capturing millions of unbanked Nigerians. “It is unfortunate that we have just about 30 million Nigerians within the sector, as captured by the Biometric Verification Number (BVN). This is alarming when we consider the number of Nigerians that should have bank accounts.
“We are determined to use technology to attract more Nigerians into the banking sector,” Jibrin said.
Traditional banking before this time was effective to the extent that they let you keep your money into a deposit account after asking you for a pile of meaningless documents. They probably told you about interest on your deposit to whet your appetite to come. You only got the money back if you were able to meet the 8 to 4 o’clock banking hours deadline, anything after that you are going to wait till the next day and it better not be a weekend. You run out of money on weekend you were on your own.
Technology has changed that. Now you open a phone, you are inside a bank. In fact, according to a definition of online banking, it means using a computer or mobile device to transfer money, pay bills, view your account balance, or do almost any other banking activity. The great news is banking innovations around the globe and the quest to stay competitive has forced many Nigerian banks to tow the same line.
It could be daunting though, as an individual to let go of the old ways and embrace online banking. Change puts some of us in an unfamiliar territory and many of us do not like to swim in unchartered waters. To clarify, I have written here that using physical cash saves you more than using a credit card. The reason is simple, no one charges you interest for using your cash to make payment, but someone will immediately you swipe that credit card because it is a loan you took at an interest.
However, online banking is not only about credit cards. It is not incurring more debt with easy cards. In fact, there are online tools that help you save more. Some apps actually help you plan your personal finance better. Mint for instance, is an app that automatically tracks your spending, categorizes it, and alerts you when/ if you approach your limit. You can ask for custom saving tips within the app.
Your utility bills, cable TV, school fees, airtime and so on can be done online. While you may not get a discount, but you make fewer trips that would have cost you and conserve energy.
Checking your account balance is also free online. With the new zero account guideline from the Central Bank of Nigeria, you can now open your bank account online for free using some bank apps. Online banking is about convenience, flexibility, and speed. Paying bills online is faster and by far cheaper.
FRANK ELEANYA
