By Olivia Nnorom
Wema Bank recorded a boom in its electronic banking channels in 2022 as it generated N6.1 billion from digital platforms, largely driven by the bank’s digital banking platform, ALAT, which gained traction and attracted more customers in the year under review.
The bank disclosed this in its recently released 2022 audited financial statement where it reported that the 2022 e-banking revenue represents a 79 per cent increase when compared with the 3.4 billion the bank generated from electronic channels in the corresponding period of 2021.
The report also showed that ALAT recorded a 131 per cent increase in the number of customers onboarded in 2022., while its other card products recorded a 98 per cent increase in the number of new customers within the year.
Babatunde Kasali, Wema Bank’s chairman, board of Directors,while speaking on the bank’s financial performance and the crucial impact of its electronic banking channels, acknowledged ALAT as a key growth driver and success story for the bank, recording a year-on-year increase of over 853,092 in the number of actively transacting customers on the platform.
He also noted that with the rollout of new and innovative features on ALAT, and ALAT For business platform, Wema is sure of increased growth and heightened performance on both platforms in the coming year.
“Wema Bank has always worked to put its customers first and meet their needs every step of the way, whether through their local bank branch or through ALAT, the digital banking platform.” Kasali said.
Kasali reiterated the bank’s commitment towards its goal of becoming Nigeria’s dominant digital banking platform, an objective that requires an unwavering focus on the bank’s digital business, a key lever for customer acquisition, retention, and engagement.
Meanwhile, Wema said that it is working on resolving complaints regarding the increase in the use of its electronic channels which led to an increase in the number of complaints received from its customers.
“While the growth in the level of adoption of our alternate/digital channels by customers has posed its own challenges, most notably the increase in the number of customer complaints received, the upgrade of the infrastructure/technology powering our contact centre (Purple Connect) during the course of the year and the upscale in the skill set of our agents have ensured that customers’ complaints are resolved promptly with very minimal disenfranchisement reported,” the bank stated.
