The Head, Agency Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Olanike Kolawole has said there are many inherent rewards and benefits of being an agency banking partner, also known as Xpress Point agent of the bank. Kolawole, who was speaking on the bank’s ongoing mouthwatering gifts presentation to its Xpress Point agents across the six geo-political zones of the country for their increased transactions on the bank’s platforms, stated that apart from helping to drive Ecobank’s financial inclusion strategy in Nigeria, the agents were being empowered to create wealth and enjoy financial freedom.
She disclosed that the bank currently parades 30,000 agent locations across the country, stressing that the agency banking scheme is driving entrepreneurship, providing employment opportunities and supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“We are happy with our Xpress Point agents, knowing they are playing a crucial role in helping us reach out to the unbanked and underbanked in the society. That is why we have designed a reward system for them. They are bringing more people to the banking space through their services. They carry out financial transactions on our behalf and earn commission on every transaction processed. The customer experience is very good as customers can do simple deposit, payment, and transfers in their own neighbourhood rather than travel for hours to a bank branch. The Xpress Point is also a channel that is being used for the deployment of national social intervention programmes of the government,” she said.
Further, Kolawole listed the services offered by the Xpress point agents as: cash in, cash out, fund transfer, bills payment, airtime recharge, remittances and account opening, among others. She added that the services are available for MSMEs, sole proprietors, partnerships, co-operative societies, microfinance banks, companies with large distribution network – like petrol stations, FMCGs, telecommunication companies, super agents, aggregators and unregistered businesses such as petty traders, hair saloon and others.
She enjoined the youths and owners of small businesses (both men and women) to use this initiative to expand their revenue streams while offering this value-added service to customers. “Are you looking for a business opportunity? Do you have a business and need an easy way to earn extra income? Xpress Point is the way. Become an Ecobank Xpress Point Agent today and enjoy financial liberty. Xpress Points are Ecobank approved agent locations that bring easy banking services closer to your neighborhood. Ecobank Xpress Point Agents offers simple banking services to solve your financial needs without you having to visit the bank.”
Ecobank boasts of a bouquet of digital channels comprising solutions aimed at delivering convenient, accessible and reliable financial services. The USSD platform, *326#, makes it possible to open an Xpress account and Xpress Save account instantly. The bank’s mobile banking app, Ecobank Mobile offers the option of generating a virtual card among other functions; this comes in handy as customers are continually turning to web payments for their shopping. The Ecobank virtual card offers the flexibility and convenience of creating a shopping card that is not linked to a customer’s account but is fully capable of carrying out online payments. The virtual card can also be shared with loved ones as a gift card for their own shopping.