Ecobank Group simplifies payments across Africa with RapidCollect™

By Chisom Nwatu

Ecobank Group has simplified collections across Africa through RapidCollect™, a solution that enables Ecobank’s business customers to receive payments from their clients in their home country and across the bank’s network of 33 affiliates, instantly and at a lower cost than any other current cross-border solution.

The leading pan-African banking group announced this in a press statement issued on Wednesday and signed by Christiane Bossom, its Group communications manager.

Ecobank said that RapidCollect™ caters for the needs of business customers across Africa and comes at a unique point in the continent’s history when the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has created a single African market to drive immense trade, investment and economic growth opportunities.

“With the African Continental Free Trade Area offering untold trading growth opportunities for Africa’s businesses, it is imperative that the payment and collection infrastructure proactively caters for the needs of our continent’s small and medium sized businesses by facilitating their cross-border trade,” said Josephine Anan-Ankomah, group executive, commercial banking, Ecobank.

“Ecobank’s Rapid-Collect™ further advances our determination to remove intra-African trade barriers by providing a fast, innovative, secure, hassle-free and reliable collection solution for our SME customers which leverages the collective scale and strength of our 33-country pan-African network,” she said.

Isaac Kamuta, group head, payment services, cash management and client access, Ecobank Group, said the launch of RapidCollect™ reaffirms the group’s leadership as the Best Bank for Cash Management in Africa.

“It provides a fast, innovative, secure, and reliable solution for our customers which leverages the collective scale and strength of our 33-country pan-African network. Our customers only need an Ecobank account in their home country – rather than needing an account in every country in which they trade. It removes the delays previously inherent in cross-border business payments and addresses the issues created by fluctuating forex rates,” he said.

Ecobank said through RapidCollect, its commercial banking and corporate and investment banking customers benefit from the convenience of one account to receive business payments hassle-free from across our 33-country network; instant payments into their Ecobank account in their home country and across the bank’s network; automated reconciliation for the bank’s businesses with capabilities to integrate their billing system; secured transactions via Ecobank’s tried and trusted technology, and easier cross-border payments to seize opportunities from the AfCFTA’s continent-wide single market.

The bank further said RapidCollect™ is available at its branches as it is already integrated into the bank’s digital channels, adding that the RapidCollect™ solution is subject to the regulations in each country.

Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group, is a subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’). The Ecobank Group employs about 13,000 people and serves over 32 million customers in the consumer, commercial and corporate banking sectors across 33 African countries.