Diamond Bank, MTN introduce mobile banking services

Diamond Bank Plc and MTN Nigeria have announced the introduction of mobile banking services for the ‘banked and the unbanked’ in the country.

According to the lender, the product is a form of financial inclusion programme meant to provide a more convenient financial service for Nigerians through the use of mobile phones.

The product, tagged Diamond Y’ello Account, was inaugurated by the bank and the telecommunications company in Lagos.

A former Managing Director of Diamond Bank and Chairman, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Pascal Dozie, at the event, said mobile banking was essential to the growth of the economy, adding that it would improve the living condition of the people.

“It is said that the bottom line of governance is the welfare of the citizens. What much more does a nation need to improve the welfare of the citizens than access to finance? If you deny somebody access to finance, you have denied him or her a means of livelihood,” Dozie said.

The chairman said the mobile banking product would also enhance the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, while noting that the product was timely, said with less than 40 million bank accounts, “a lot of people are still excluded one way or the other from access to finance.”

He noted with concern that no economy could make appreciable progress when a sizeable number of the citizens still lacked access to banking services.

“There is no way a country can develop when you have a large part of its population still not having access to banking services in one way or the other,” Otti said.

“In Diamond Bank, we’ve been doing everything possible to ensure that we take banking closer to people who ordinarily do not have access; this is the result of one of the efforts we’ve been making,” he added.

Like people in the cities, the Diamond Bank boss said the banking services the product offered could also be enjoyed by people living in remote locations across the country.

He said no statutory documents were required to open the account, adding that the account allowed customers to transfer and receive funds.

While describing the product as a digital innovation, the Managing Director, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Michael Ikpoki, said the development would enhance the living standard of its customers and the general public.

He said the mobile bank account was developed to bring services and opportunities closer to the unbanked so that “they can be part of the larger formal ecosystem through the digital technology.”