NAIROBI, KENYA, JULY 25 — Leading Pan-African financial services provider, UBA Group has unveiled chat banking in Kenya, making the country the latest to unveil the service among its 20 African subsidiaries.
The service dubbed ‘LEO’ rides on Facebook Messenger, allowing customers to sign up for accounts, request for mini statement, airtime top up, fund transfers, check user balance and live chat the customer fulfilment centre.
UBA plans to introduce mobile money transfers, inter-bank fund transfers and payment of bills in the near future.
Speaking during the unveiling of the first of its kind service in the Kenya banking industry, UBA Bank Kenya Managing Director and CEO Isaac Mwige said: “Today we launch United Bank for Africa’s Facebook e-chat service dubbed LEO, marking yet another great milestone in the Kenyan banking sector. UBA becomes the first bank in Kenya, to offer an e-chat service that enables customers to execute transactions on Facebook.”
New and existing customers of UBA will be required to search for ‘UBA ChatBanking’ on Facebook Messenger to begin the enrolment process.
Leo will then take them through a set of requirements before the service is granted, making it convenient.
“Technology remains central to United Bank for Africa’s business strategy, as we endeavour to provide our customer with innovative and convenient banking solutions, further entrenching our vision to be the undisputed, leading and dominant financial services institution in Africa “said Emeke E. Iweriebor, Group Executive Director and CEO UBA East and Southern Africa.
Leo ushers in the next phase of banking technology in Kenya where artificial intelligent will anchor customer experience and satisfaction.
When not guiding customers through transactions, Leo will engage them on social interests such as entertainment, sports, and lifestyle among others.
“The launch of LEO is in line with our commitment to continuously provide our customers with the latest innovative and convenient banking solutions that fit their lifestyle,” said Mwige.
UBA has received several global recognition including ‘Africa’s best digital bank 2018” at the prestigious Euromoney awards in London. LEO was recently showcased by Mark Zuckerberg as ‘’doing incredible things’’ at Facebook’s Developer Conference F8 that took place in May 2018, San Jose, California, in the US.
“The award is indeed an affirmation of the bank’s investment in cutting edge technology, one of which gave birth to Leo” said Iweriebor.
“The emergence of LEO, has been a continuous directive to push the banking sector beyond financial services and to show that the bank truly comprehends the shift in operations and the movement of the global world with technology today.”
The Euromoney award is a recognition of innovative products and services introduced by the bank in recent times and targeted towards meeting customer needs.
LEO was launched at the group level in January 2018 and has since had 35 million conversations, covering enquiries for which the customer would have called or visited a branch.
It has so far successfully done over 500,000 financial transactions, from over 300,000 users.
With UBA set to market its tenth year of operation in Kenya in 2019, the launch of LEO is expected to attract the modern, tech and social-savvy customer.
Of the 20 African countries where UBA has operations, 14 have integrated LEO into their day-to-day operations.
In addition to LEO, UBA has launched its revamped mobile and USSD magic banking platforms aimed at improving customer experience.
The United Bank for Africa is one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, with operations in 20 countries and three global financial centers: London, Paris and New York.
From a single country operation in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, UBA has evolved into a Pan-African provider of banking and related financial services through diverse channels globally.
UBA Kenya is a subsidiary of UBA Plc and licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya. The Bank has been in Kenya since 2009 and has continued to play a critical role in the Kenyan banking industry.
UBA Kenya offers a full range of banking products catering for large local corporates, public sector clients and multinational corporations that include trade finance lines, working capital facilities, collection solutions and robust payment platforms.
