Access Bank agency banking ‘Access Closa ’ recently hit a
milestone of having 100,000 agents currently spread across Nigeria as the bank
further plans to increase its footprint
by having a minimum of 50 agents in each of
the 774 LGAs across the country.
Group Head, Agency Banking, Access Bank Plc, Chizoba Iheme,
in a chat with journalists noted that due to the limited number of financial
institutions, especially in rural areas, Access Closa is Access Bank’s
strongest retail channel used in providing banking services to a large
population of unserved and underserved Nigerians.
She said: “Our plan is to bank one in two Nigerians as this
will see us increase our customer base and deepen our wallet share of the
banking population.”
“Going by the high youth and adult population, the resources
of Nigeria’s financial institutions are being overstretched in providing
physical and human resources and were unable to cope with gaps that existed in
meeting banking needs of Nigerians hence the need for Agency Banking as
envisaged by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013.”
“Therefore, Agency Banking helps financial institutions
decongest crowded branches by providing a matching and more often convenient
channel for their customers. In instances where reaching customers in rural
areas is often highly expensive for financial institutions because transaction
numbers and volumes do not cover the cost of a branch, agency banking helps in
serving them.”
Furthermore, she added that becoming an agent has become a
means to empower and reduce unemployment in Nigeria.
“Our commission structure
allows an agent to earn up to N500,000 and more monthly in commission
including incentives and opportunities for agents to grow their business and
partner with a reputable brand is an attraction to the Closa brand.”
Furthermore on risks associated with agency banking in the
country and how Access Banks moves to mitigate it, she added: “There are four
major risks that we have identified. These are Technological, Legal,
Fraud/Reputational. Assets.
“Technological Risk, to prevent software and hardware
failures, the bank is investing in new infrastructure with capacity to absorb
service disruptions that will have minimal impact. As part of our onboarding
process, the bank’s agents are required to execute a service agreement that
stipulate the roles and responsibilities of each party.
Also, agents are trained at the point of activation on
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Terrorism Financing. This training also takes
place every year to reiterate the dangers and consequences associated with
fraudulent actions. Besides, the bank has set maximum daily limit on the amount
and frequency of transactions that can be performed by an agent. Lastly, a quarterly
risk profiling exercise is carried out on all agents for effective management,”
Iheme added.
Access Bank is the leading retail bank in Nigeria with over
600 branches and more than 40 million customers. The bank offers products and
services tailored to suit the lifestyle of every Nigerian irrespective of age
and demographic.