FCMB woos tech savvy customers with *329# mobile banking code

By Temitayo Ayetoto

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) said it has introduced a mobile banking solution coded *329#, in its renewed commitment to attune its financial service delivery to the growing needs of tech-savvy customers.

The self-service under the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) technology platform will avail customers with basic services such as funds transfer, account opening, account balance enquiry, micro loans and top-up, airtime and data purchase, bills payment, wallet deposit and withdrawal among other value-added services using mobile phones.

Olu Akanmu, executive director, retail banking, in a statement, said the service will deepen the bank’s drive to reach the varying categories of customers through products and services that suit their lifestyles.

The statement noted that the mobile migration will also realise the Central Bank of Nigeria’s goal of cashless and financially inclusive system.

“The development will also go a long way to eliminate possible delays experienced by physical visits to branches of the bank, while reinforcing the our commitment to environmental sustainability, geared towards reducing the quantity of paper and other materials usage. The lender’s recent investment in technology more importantly provides it a unique opportunity to lead the sector and serve its teeming customers as they embrace and seek secure, easier and more flexible ways to take care of their daily banking needs,” the statement said.

FCMB’s mobile banking penetration has been on the increase since its emergence as a leading retail Bank in the country.
Its number of active customers using its mobile or internet banking platforms grew by 136.9% from 255,626 in December 2016 to 350,106 by the end of December 2017.

It also retained the second position slot for Point of Sales (PoS) transactions with over 19.2 million transactions in 2017, reflecting a 227% rise compared to the recent past.