Stories By Babajide Komolafe
Wema Bank is leveraging on the gains from the recently concluded transformation process to render quality services to members of the banking public.

SegunOloketuyi, GMD Wema Bank

“Wema Bank was a bank virtually on its knees before now, but it has been restored back to a path of profitability by the new management.  With the transformation which is on track, coupled with the quality of our workforce and that of quality of service we now render, the customers are poised for more delightful experience,” said Segun Oloketuyi, Managing Director/Chief Executive of the bank.

From a bank that was one of the top performers in the industry and the delight of shaheholders, Wema Bank became an endangered species following series of board/ management squables  which severely impacted its performance and  public confidence. But in 2009, a new core investor took over the bank and appointed the Oloketuyi-led management with the manadate to rescue the bank and return it to glory.

Upon assumption of office on June 10, 2009, the new management rolled out a three-phase transformation plan designed to restore public confidence and profitability. The first phase was to stabilise the bank, the second phase to prepare the bank for growth and the third stage to go for growth.

“The transformation process we embarked upon immediately we resumed has started yielding dividend. This has positively impacted on the orientation of our workforce, who hitherto was faced with a picture of the bleak future,” said Oloketuyi.

He said among other things the new management has installed corporate governance structures with Board Committees up and running, and financial reporting improved,  instituted a new Service Delivery Model (SDM) to aid improved customer service and restructured the workforce.

We have also improved infrastructure and  work tools and embarked on renovation of the head office and all branches, enhanced electronic banking platform with most of our 154 branches now having ATMs, improved risk management structure and recovery, repackaged existing products and services with improved features and benefits for competitiveness, and restored the bank to the path of profitability.

He said in addition to these, the bank has been recapitalised. To achieve this, the bank raised a total of N11.5 billion, being the proceeds of a N7.5 billion Special Placing Offer, 31 billion through debt recovery and N15.2 billion from sale of non-performing loans to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

With the successful transformation of the bank, Oloketuyi said the focus of the bank now is rendering quality services to the banking public. The bank has opted for a regional banking status under the new banking regime, which according to Oloketuyi, implies that the bank will now operate within the South-West, South- South zones and the Federal Capital Territory. Oloketuyi, however, said that being a regional bank does not in any way impede the perfomance or profitability of a bank, he said what matters most is the services rendered to the banking public.

“The truth of the matter is that we do not anticipate any image problem. What an average bank customer wants is timeous delivery of quality service and for a bank to be there when it is needed. The quality of service that we render will more than compensate for the spread of our operations. In the past, there were some banks in the country that had less than 10 outlets and did excellently well with reasonable customer-base.

“The quality of service we render will continually be the attraction to any and all of our customers. Remember I have said that the licence you hold as a bank, as important as it is, is not as important as the quality of service you render.  Indeed, it is the quality of service you render that interests the customer. By the time you give them what they want, where and when they need those services, you would have made their day. This is our target,” he said.