By PETER EGWUATU

In its support for the cashless initiative introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited has commenced a nationwide customer forum to intimate them on the benefit of the scheme.

The Bank is also soliciting suggestions from its customer on how to improve the Bank’s services, which will inturn impact on the bottom line.

With a growing emphasis on cashless banking to provide safer financial services to customers, FCMB recognizes the need to significantly increase access to a range of financial services, including savings accounts, payments, transfers and other products and services for its customers and the unbanked population.

The regional meetings held in Abuja, Kano, Onitsha and Port-Harcourt with overwhelming attendance recorded active participation from the Bank’s customers and select clients. The excitement expressed by participants in the regions was an indication that the initiative was very timely. The regional forum was also used to explain the programmes of the Bank to the customers including effective banking services.

Some of the questions asked at the forum centered on the new banking policies by CBN; how they will affect local traders as most of their businesses are being transacted in rural areas. Customers also wanted to know about the charges intra and inter-bank transfers attract and how ready the Bank is in handling the volume of e-transactions that the cashless policy will bring.

Commenting on the need for FCMB to hold regular regional interactions with her customers and clients, Ikechukwu Kalu, Group Head, Marketing & Communications said: “our customer is the reason we are in business, hence the Bank’s commitment in maintaining regular contact and ensuring that information elicited through these engagements are structured into our strategic and tactical initiatives so we can be better for our customers.

We take the voice of the customer seriously and we believe that information sharing is of utmost importance to the growth of our brand. The interactions in the four locations provided quality education on the CBN cashless policy and a good platform for us to receive feedback from our customers on product and services and e-channels”.

He encouraged customers to avail themselves of the cash-less inclined products of the Bank such as FCMBOnline, FCMBMobile, FCMB FlashMeCash, ATMs, Points of Sale (POS) etc as they are simple to use and secure.