Yemisi Izuora
Wema Bank Plc has unveiled agent banking service in Bauchi as it seeks to deepen its retail footprint across informal economic sectors of the country.
Agent Bank is a cost-effectivemedium employed by Banks to provide financial access to unbanked, underbanked, and branch-starved communities.
In a statement, Wema Bank explained that it has recruited four agents within Bauchi to support the ongoing retail push by its recently opened branch in the State. These agents have so far onboarded over 500 rural farmers and workers within the informal agric sector of the State as well as those residing in neigbhouring cities in the North.
According to Dotun Ifebogun, Head of Retail Banking at Wema Bank, Agent Banking offers a cost-effective medium to rapidly expand the Bank’s presence and capture a largely untapped market of those operating in informal business sectors across the country.
“We believe this strategy complements greatly our retail expansion plan and ensures we can target unbanked and branch-starved communities in a quick and cost-effective manner,” Dotun added.