By Yemisi Izuora-Lagos
Customers of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc in the 18 African countries where the bank has operations can now receive transaction alerts on their twitter handle as direct messages a feat the bank says is an innovation to be launched first from the pan-African bank and currently the only bank in Africa to offer this service.
“What we have done is take social media banking to a new level. Twitter is increasingly becoming a popular means of communication especially among the young adults. As a highly innovative bank, we are giving the Millennials, who are increasingly banking with us an option to get transaction alerts on their preferred platform” said Rasheed Adegoke, UBA’s Director, Information Technology.
Before now customers can only receive transaction alerts as text messages on their mobile phones and as e-mails.
The UBA Twitter Notification Service will not however, replace the current SMS alerts system in place for all of the bank’s customers, but will complement it for added convenience for all those who subscribe to the service.
UBA customers seeking to receive twitter powered transaction alerts through their twitter account should visit the UBA Group website or the UBA twitter page to register.
On the UBA Group website, customers will be requested to click on the Twitter notification service page, and enter their account number then click on submit. Follow the displayed instructions to log into their personal account and enable access. Once this process is completed, the customer will start receiving transaction alerts securely.
The alerts will only be seen by the receiver, since it goes into his or her direct message box, just like an SMS message going to a phone.
The introduction of this service reinforces UBA’s growing presence and engagement with its numerous customers on social media. UBA has been acknowledged as one of Nigeria’s leading banks in the social media space.
In February 2014, a social media report by Alder Consulting ranked the bank among the top three, in effective use of social media in Nigeria. UBA is active on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Google plus and runs a corporate blog.
With a customer base in excess of seven million, UBA has invested heavily in building a robust and secure e-Banking platform that supports its e-banking operations globally through strategic partnerships with various local and international organizations.
The UBA Group is a highly diversified financial services provider, with business offices in New York, Paris and a subsidiary in London. A leading player on the African continent, UBA has significant market share and operations in 19 different African countries. The Group has a strong retail franchise across the continent offering its more than seven million customers a bouquet of products and services tailored to meet their different financial needs.