United Bank for Africa (UBA) is leveraging on technology to improve customer service offerings across all its service channels, its Group Managing Director/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka has said.
He stated this at an investor conference held on the bank’s 2016 half year results. “We want to be in the best position to meet the customers on their utility curve, to ensure that we proactively offer forward looking products and services that will create unique customer experiences as well as beat expectations,” he said.
He said UBA will not only be the first-to-market in new offerings, but will also offer bespoke products to its esteemed customers and serve them in the most efficient manner.
“Our customers deserve nothing but the best. At the heart of the bank’s customer first strategy lies our process reengineering, as we diligently overhaul and streamline our processes towards our desired lean model,” he said, adding that the bank was already reaping from its process transformation initiatives as it has led to reduction in customer service costs, and freed human resources to be deployed to other segments of the bank’s business.
“We are confident that our dedication to Customer1st initiatives will not only increase our share of existing customers’ wallet, it would seamlessly create new markets for UBA as customers increasingly become our brand ambassadors,” Uzoka explained.
On the bank’s performance in the second quarter, the UBA chief said he was happy to report that UBA delivered 18 per cent annualised return on average equity in the half year, despite the volatilities experienced in the macro-economic environment.
He said the result further underscored “our ability to consistently deliver superior returns to our shareholders over the long term. We are taking proactive actions that will strengthen our competitive edge and effectively position UBA as the most preferred Pan-African Bank.”
Given some specific figures on the performance of the bank, Uzoka explained that the bank grew non-interest income by 12per cent to over N52 billion in the first six months of the year.
“This impressive growth in non-funded revenue is better appreciated when put in the perspective of the zero-COT regime, which commenced at the beginning of the year. Notwithstanding the challenges of our operating environment, the Group grew half year profit by three per cent to over N40 billion; an evidence of our resilient business model,” Uzoka said.