In a quest to reposition its Retail Banking business and make it the centre-piece of its business focus, Skye Bank Plc has embarked on a comprehensive transformation of its retail offerings, focusing essentially on the needs of customers in its identified target segments, Individuals and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs.
The Bank’s new Retail strategy code-named Project R-TAG, ‘Retail Transformation and Growth’, is designed to simplify Retail Banking business and serve as a game-changing business model with a focus on customer segments using unique value propositions rather than the product led approach commonly adopted by Retail organisations. This is the key to activating the Bank’s new retail sales approach which is based on a ‘Pull’ strategy, supported by a positive customer experience across its key service touch points.
Speaking at the launch of the project in Lagos on Tuesday, June 9, 2015, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, assured that the new business transformation project would bring about customized and needs-satisfying financial solutions in a manner that will exceed the expectations of the customers.
Oguntayo said the trend in retail banking involves knowing the needs of the customer beyond finances to include Lifestyle needs and designing appropriate solutions to meet those needs, saying, ‘Skye Bank is poised to serve as a dependable partner to its customers across the country.’
He added, “Our renewed drive and focus on Retail Banking is anchored on the premise of building a long lasting relationship with our customers based on trust as well as supporting the financial inclusion drive of the CBN so as to bring a lot more people into the financial system and the formal economy. This is why the Bank has instituted its ‘Reach for the Skye millionaire reward’ scheme as a product feature for its flagship savings product to encourage savings culture amongst the mass market segment.
Oguntayo stressed that the current Banking environ as well as the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank, which after integration, will significantly increase the branch footprint of Skye, signifying a clear competitive advantage for Skye Bank to follow the Retail Banking model.
In her remark, the Executive Director, South South, South East and Retail Banking, Mrs. Ibiye Ekong, said amendments to the Bank’s existing retail products is to streamline and position them for better fit with the identified customer segments.
Ekong further stated that the bank had just introduced a new individual current account product named, ‘Skye Ascend” targeted at the ‘emerging middle class’ customer segment which forms part of the new focus segment for the Bank.
She said the Bank’s new retail strategy has identified three consumer segments for primary focus, namely mass market, emerging middle class and mass affluent, which promise to deliver value to the customers.
Also speaking at the occasion, Head, Retail Banking Group, Nkolika Okoli, said the R-TAG project would help streamline the Bank’s product portfolio targeted at Individual and SME customers via the identification of primary focus segments, with a maximum of 2 products to serve each segment.
She added that Skye Bank has also pioneered the issuance of FREE debit cards and cheque books to Retail customers as well as a removal of all withdrawal barriers on savings account types as incentives to encourage adoption of financial services by customers of all class by making banking services affordable to all.
Meanwhile, a businessman residing in Kaduna State, Mukaila B. Hamzat emerged the first winner of the Bank’s ‘Reach for the Skye Millionaire’ reward scheme. Mr. Hamzat, a former Mainstreet Bank savings account holder, now merged with Skye Bank, was selected during an electronic draw from over 400, 000 customers during the launch of the retail banking project. Three customers would emerge as millionaires each month during the monthly promo draws. The next draw event is scheduled in the first week of July.
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