Denis Opudo
Wema Bank is developing Alat, a digital platform that will help it attract more youths in its customer base. This was developed from the fact that youth like using social platform. Furthermore, it will be the first ever full digital bank in Nigeria. Alat is a paperless, branchless bank that offers financial services via its iOS, web applications and Android.
Its design was influenced by the increasing need of Nigerians for a financial institution. This will be a platform that will understand the locals’ needs, make a quick response and assist them in saving money. Many banks are taking in social media platform in helping them get to more customers. Lenders who focus on the future will always think of digital means of engaging the banking needs of the youthful population.
Wema bank Plc is known for reaching out to youths in Nigeria. The bank’s Alat app has attracted more youths born between 1980 and 2000 and they are seen as rare breeds compared to their older generation. They are seen as highly educated, opinionated and they lean more towards the digital sector. Furthermore, they are collaborative, tech-savvy, socially conscious and optimistic. Those who target them must get better ways of getting to them. A good example is Maraji a female comedian who received 200,000 views on her single post. The views came from her Instagram page alone. This shows the power of social media in the current generation.
According to Funmilayo Falola, Wema Bank’s Head of Brand and Marketing Communications, social media has been of much help in big conferences. Discussions carried out in conferences like Handle It Africa highlights the importance of social media and gives fresh ideas that can be used by businesses and individuals to maximize on opportunities offered by other social media platforms. Falola adds that Alat offers more than just a banking platform. It is a banking system developed to help clients reach financial and personal goals. This goes in line with Wema Bank’s vision to be the financial institution of choice in superior returns and service delivery.
Statistics has it that Millennial will make up 75% of the world workforce come 2025 and this is why it is important to bring the group into the any lender’s client. There is a belief that social media platforms stand a chance to be the future banks. For instance, Lagos based marketing firm Femi Oguntamu of Penzaarville launched Handle It Africa. This is a social media conference working with the theme Social Media: Language of Expression. The conference received the support of the like of Wema Bank making it be a success. The bank is again offering its support to the conference in 2018 after launching Alat in 2017. The 2018 theme will be Social Media: Expanding Influence, Broadening Thoughts. It will discuss more on the role of social media. The year 2017 had 71% of internet users as social network users and the numbers are expected to go up. This shows where serious lenders need to focus more in order to increase their customer base.
