Awareness about Stanbic IBTC Bank’s product offerings has recorded significant growth in the market following its aggressive branch expansion in Nigeria, even as the bank makes plans to further widen its product and service range.

Head of Personal Banking Distribution, Tolu Oladipo, stated in an interview that since the beginning of 2010 the bank has rolled out more than 70 points of representation nationwide, a trend he expects to continue over the next few years as the bank expands its retail banking services to complement the extensive corporate and investment banking franchise for which the bank is also very well known.

“Awareness of our products is growing rapidly in the market, driven by our significant expansion within the country. In addition to this, our growth is fuelled by the strength of our brand as well as the quality of service we strive to continue to deliver to our customers,” he stated

Oladipo said as Nigeria’s huge unbanked population steadily migrates to the formal banking system, the bank, a member of the Standard Bank Group, will continue to offer new and innovative products and solutions aimed at meeting the demands of the various segments of the market.

He noted that the Nigerian financial market is extensive and ever expanding, a situation that demands consistent evaluation to identify potential customers, their needs and aspirations as well as to support these with the appropriate products and solutions.

He said Stanbic IBTC Bank already has an array of product and service solutions targeted at a diverse customer segment to ensure that all customers will have access to the best products and services wherever they are and whenever they desire it.

Some of the specialized service offerings said Oladipo, include the Stanbic IBTC Home Loans product, which enables customers and non-customers access loans from the bank in order to purchase or build their own homes. Another is the Vehicle and Asset Finance product through which a salaried employee or a corporation could take a loan to acquire assets that may include motor vehicles or operational equipment among others.

The bank was awarded the “Best Customer of the Year” by Toyota Nigeria Limited for financing the highest number of Toyota vehicles sold in the country in 2009, which is a testament to the ease of access of this particular product, said Oladipo.

Yet another product, said Oladipo, is the e.susu product, a micro credit scheme which enables activation of various personal finance pockets for those who want to save to meet specific future needs whilst giving the customer the freedom to choose how much and when they want to save. This has been a hit among entrepreneurs in the small and medium scale enterprises sector.

“In addition to Vehicle and Asset Finance (VAF), we currently offer a large number of lending and transactional products both in personal and business banking and this offering will continue to expand,” he stated.

Oladipo further explained that the Stanbic IBTC MasterCard Credit Card, which has four variants namely Gold Naira MasterCard, Gold International (Dollar) MasterCard, Private Banking Naira MasterCard and Private Banking International (Dollar) MasterCard, ensures that the customer has easy access to money both within Nigeria and any part of the world.

Jacques Troost, Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Executive Director for Personal and Business Banking, stressed that while the bank will continue to expand its footprint in Nigeria to ensure even greater closeness to customers, a major objective is to continuously avail different customer segments of exceptional value by means of customized products and service offerings.

“We are confident that the market will continue to see new and innovative solutions from us, which will result in numerous opportunities to create value for our customers and the community in general.”