Tell us why you are embarking on this transformation, and how this aligns with your history?
Having made some remarkable achievements in the course of our history, as the third-largest PFA in terms of AUM; as the PFA with the highest unit value for oldest fund, which is known as Fund 2 today, we think we should have a new beginning. In this new beginning, you will see that we are embracing technology, we are improving the skills of our people, we are also revamping our operations to support the strategic plans we have put in place, which is a five years strategic plan. So, the journey of where we are today started late last year when the management came out with a five years strategic plan, and the main objective of the entire strategy is to position the company in such a way that we stand out as far as the pension industry is concerned. Our main focus in the next five years is excellence in premium experience for our clients. Some of the things we have launched touch on this objective – including our mobile app and new website which are all geared towards ensuring that our members get the premium experience.
You have just unveiled a new logo, and a mobile app, what is the message?
This new logo will make some very bold statements. It has minimal steps that actually portray the authenticity of Premium Pensions. The clean-cut box that you have seen talks about the honesty of the brand. The fund establishes dominance, it’s a logo that say’s about its presence today, its reliability, its longevity and also the fact that we are premium. It is actually an opportunity to unveil a mobile App that is a leader in the industry today. It’s a mobile app that is used by five different sets of people, so you have the employers who will use it; the employees who are our RSA holders; our agents will use them, our staff will use them and it is also a mobile App that is multichannel. It’s a mobile app that can be used on smartphones, it can be used on USSD; You can go to our website and get access to it, it can enable people to make referrals, earn points and redeem those points. Really, Premium Pensions is today not looking at only pension management; we are looking at a whole gamut of pension access. It is an App that will appeal to the young age, that is, people who are just starting work today and want to make savings for the future, as well as those who are already going into retirement. There is so much coming ahead from Premium Pensions and we believe that this logo will open up a new vista in the life of the company.
This is a very bold statement, a statement about premium experience you can get from any of our channels – brick and mortar or electronic. To a large statement, we are also making a statement to say, you can actually serve yourself – people can open accounts, make contributions, track their contributions, see their statements, apply for withdrawals and so and so forth. It’s a game-changer in the industry. So, for us, this is a dream come through, and this is just the beginning. What we are doing now is raising the bar. And every effort we have put in here is based on the yearnings of our members, who are our contributors. So, what we have done is to prepare for that time when our membership will double, when our AUM will double so that we will continue to serve them well.
How do these innovations take care of your incoming customers from the new launched micro pension scheme?
The multichannel mobile App also has a platform for micro pensions on its own, such that you will be able to make registration, make contributions, track your accounts and also make withdrawals through the mobile App. It’s an all-encompassing app. I think we have proven in the course of about 18 months now that we are not scared of embracing technology so as to make things easy for our clients. Just like I said, our ambition is to double our client base and we have prepared for it. In fact, we don’t necessarily need to double the workforce. For the micro pension scheme, yes, we have enrolled people, not just enrolment; we have started receiving contributions through several channels.
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How prepared is Premium Pensions going to replicate these same services in other states of the federation that may not be like Lagos and Abuja in terms of technology, even in terms of staff knowledge of the different applications to be able to support clients around the localities?
We are well aware of the challenges that some of states face in terms of technology. The use of technology does not mean we are not going to enhance our brick and mortar structures. We have a detailed programme for training and retraining of our staff on general customer service issues as well as on technical issues. So, for us, it’s something we have taken into consideration, technology is not going to replace one on one human interaction. There are some people who want to come to the office, there are some who want to sit in their homes and do everything from their phones. We are there physically; we are also there technologically, and our connectivity with all the branches has improved very reasonably. We are online in real-time with all our internal systems.
How does this align with ongoing data recapturing being mandated by Pencom, in terms of helping to reach those that cannot be able to come to your office to recapture?
The reality is that the mobile app has the capacity to do that. But even before the App, we do realise that some people will like to do things at their own convenience and we have an online version that when you log in you do your data recapturing. Because we are able to understand that some people may not be privileged enough to use technology we still go out to the locations of our employers and administer those hard copy forms and do data recapturing. Believe you me, we take technology seriously and at the moment we see that it’s giving us an edge. The reality is that the young graduate of today will rather do everything while they are on the street walking and doing everything in their phones. We have made that recognition and for the fact that the future belongs to them, we have to key in. So, all channels are open because we know that all fingers are not equal.
‘ Because we are able to understand that some people may not be privileged enough to use technology we still go out to the locations of our employers and administer those hard copy forms and do data recapturing ‘
