First Bank promotes Banking Services through it's advanced USSD banking

A major contribution of the banking industry to the nation’s socio-economic development is the ongoing effort to increase the number of adult Nigerians that have access to affordable financial services.

This effort is inspired by the strong linkage between financial inclusion and economic development.

This prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria and the banks to develop the National Financial Inclusion Strategy with the revised goal of ensuring that 95 per cent of the adult population have access to affordable financial services by 2024.

Critical to the achievement of this goal is massive deployment of digital banking channels, with banks leveraging on digital technology to make it easier for Nigerians to access financial services from any location.

At the forefront of these initiatives is FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, owned by FBN Holdings Plc. 

Leveraging on its 127 years experience of supporting the economic development of Nigeria, 750 business locations including international presence in eight countries, as well as leadership in electronic banking services, FirstBank has been at the forefront of  bridging the financial exclusion gap, thereby empowering Nigerians to carry out their financial and business-driven activities in contributing to national growth and development. 

Reflecting the leadership role of FirstBank at promoting digital payment in the country, the bank has issued over 10 million cards, while it has more than 10 million people on its USSD Quick Banking service and over 4.5 million people on FirstMobile platform.

First Bank Limited has, over the years, catered to the financial needs of its customers through efficient use of the banking tool. 

In 2021, through the use of the USSD banking tool, the bank has processed a total of 1.19 billion transactions worth N4.44 trillion, reflecting an average of 99 million transactions generating a revenue of N370 billion per month.

From January to date, however, through the USSD banking tool, 176 million transactions have been successfully processed, worth N701 billion.

First Bank Holdings Plc, the parent company of First Bank Limited, has steadily improved the delivery of its services with the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking tool.

The Bank’s USSD banking tool can be accessed when existing and non-existing customers dial the code *894#. The *894# USSD banking tool is mostly used by customers with the age range of 15 to 55 years.

For existing customers, with the code, they can access diverse banking options from card and account reconciliation issues to other financial services offered by the bank. However, non-existing customers can open an account with the bank by dialing the USSD banking code and following the message prompt, emphasizing the bank’s efficiency in banking the unbanked and promoting financial inclusion.

Reflecting the tool’s effectiveness, the number of USSD customer base has increased by 0.93% from January to date to over 13.40 million. In addition, First Bank, on the back of the effectiveness of the USSD banking tool, has been awarded as the Alternative Service Channels Bank of the Year.

Most recent features upgraded into the USSD banking tool to improve its efficiency are the Limit Enhancement, Security Feature Enhancement, Implementation of Pay attitude on USSD. 

The major advantages that comes with the use of the USSD banking tool is that it does not require Internet Connectivity, it is convenient, and it is secured.