In its determination to delight customers with new products and services and improve their overall experience, First Bank of Nigeria limited has unveiled its first digital Lab at “Yabacon Valley,” Yaba, Lagos.
The digital Lab is designed to serve as a platform for FirstBank to collaborate and advance with the rapidly evolving Financial Technology (FinTech).
Also, it is designed to rapidly stimulate innovative solutions to real-life challenges. It provides “faster and more efficient” banking products to its customers.
The new digital Lab empowers the bank to champion innovation, create new digital products, enhance existing products and processes, strengthening its capabilities and competitiveness within the industry.
There is a section of the Lab meant for collaboration with FinTechs and non FinTech start-ups. Also, there is an area for tech tops, where key industry players from the FinTech community would be invited to give insightful talks on pressing issues in the financial technology space in Nigeria.
“Technology is disrupting the entire financial market especially the digital one, our role as the oldest, the largest bank and the bank that has always continuously reinvented itself is to ensure that we are at the fore front of those people disrupting the industry”, Adesola Adeduntan, managing director/CEO said at the official launch of the digital lab.
Responding to Journalists on the implication of the digital Lab on the economy, Adeduntan said, when the velocity and the efficiency of the market is improved, the economy has a whole benefit, more people would get employed, the money in the system would circulate faster and in a more efficient manner.
The FirstBank Digital Lab will bring together technologies and methods to transform ideas into feasible solutions in record time.
Speaking to journalist at the event, Chuma Ezirim, group head, e-business, called on many young Nigerians who are very good in computer science or engineering who have ideas to come and work with the bank to get those ideas into a reality.
Lola Ekugo, head, digital Lab said, “here in First Bank customers are first and we intend to carry that out here in the lab. For every product we design and process, we want to ensure that we connect directly with our customers, so from time to time we will invite some customers here for key things like focus groups. We have prototype of projects and products that we want to do. We want to ensure that the customers’ voice is in each and every thing that we do within the bank”.
