At an interactive event which held earlier last week in Lagos, Union Bank wowed a captive audience as it unveiled a plethora of digital banking solutions. One of these was the ‘Locate an Agent’ feature on the bank’s brand new mobile app which is first of its kind in Nigeria.

The ‘Locate an Agent’ feature on the app which borrows heavily from the UBER concept allows customers to locate a Union Bank sales agent and request cash pick up or withdrawals. Agents can also open accounts and assist customers with other banking services at a location convenient for them.

Speaking at the launch event, Folorunsho Orimoloye, Head, Alternative Channels, Union Bank, stated the bank’s commitment to improving the lifestyle of customers by providing convenient, easy and secure banking.

“As a customer centric bank, Union Bank is investing heavily in improving the lives of our customers through technology and easily-accessible platforms. The introduction of digital services such as ‘Locate an Agent’ highlights our commitment to creating smart products and services that make banking simple for them,” he said.

 The ‘Locate an Agent’ feature is especially targeted at small business owners who need to bank their revenue daily. These customers have often expressed frustration about their inability to deposit daily cash or the challenge of having to rush to banks to ensure they make deposits before the end of banking hours.”

This new feature on the mobile app therefore combines digital banking and agency banking to create a solution that meets their needs for convenient banking at a location that suits them. Other features of the new mobile app include the ability to open a new Union Bank account, access to a mini account statement, lifestyle features like news updates and weather forecast and other standard transactions.

Another first in the industry by Union Bank is the ATM locator which goes beyond the existing, standard ATM locator features. The Union Bank ATM Locator raises the bar as it not only enables customers find an ATM but one that has cash in it.

Union Bank has also joined the league of the few banks in Nigeria that offer cardless withdrawals. Customers can now use the mobile app to make withdrawals from ATMs without their ATM cards by simply generating a code on the new banking app to use at ATMs.

Other platforms unveiled at the launch event include the bank’s USSD code *826# which allows customers to use their feature phones to carry out activities such as account opening, balance enquiry, checking of BVN numbers, generating OTP for internet banking transactions, mini – statement, bill payments and transfers.

Bucking the industry standard which relies on a Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) USSD code for mCash payments, Union Bank has become the very first bank in Nigeria to use its own unique USSD code for the mCash payment system.

This means that customers of the Bank can use the bank’s short code, 826, to make mCash payments at participating merchant locations, whereas other banks do not use their own codes but rely on a shared short code from Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) which owns the mCash platform. mCash is a real-time mobile payment solution which relies on short code messaging for payments of goods and services.

The UnionOnline internet application also got an upgrade to serve customers better, as it now enables multiple transactions to several beneficiaries within Union Bank at once. Customers can also now create a loan schedule, book a fixed deposit and open target savings accounts such as UnionKorrect, UnionFuture and UnionGoal on the platform.

Union Bank will continue to focus on delivering customer-driven solutions that will add value and support business and personal ambitions.