SunTrust Bank Targets Over 100 Million Unbanked Nigerians

The Chief Executive Officer, SunTrust Bank Limited, the latest commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Muhammed Jubrin, says the lender is planning to attract over 100 million unbanked Nigerians into the banking sector, using technology.

He said this would go a long way in deepening the financial sector and achieving the CBN’s goal of encouraging savings culture among the populace.

In a statement on Sunday, Jubrin was quoted as saying, “It is unfortunate that we have just about 30 million Nigerians within the banking sector, as captured by the Bank Verification Number project; 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. We are very positive that this is possible and with the success in the telecommunication sector, we are sure, that our mobile banking applications will entice millions of able Nigerians into the sector.”

Jubrin said the success story in the telecommunications sector was enough to give the management of the new bank hope that their aim of banking millions of unbanked Nigerians using technology was achievable.

He promised that the bank would bring banking to customers’ home.

“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,” the CEO added.

“The bank’s competitive edge will be the strong reliance on technology and it will be encouraging customers to access its services from the comfort of their homes and offices and as such the bank will not be engaging in a proliferation of branches.”

The SunTrust MD explained, “Our services will be available to our customers 24 hours daily, seven days a week and from anywhere in the world where there is a good Internet service.

“Even our data centre is outsourced, this way we will not have the overbearing requirement to put on the generator at our locations.”

According to the CEO, “we will not be emphasising physical security as we are making serious investment in cyber security instead.”

On the focus and strategy of the bank, the CEO said, “Over 90 per cent of banking transaction are being transacted electronically worldwide.