Customer Value Addition: The case of ADB
With about an estimated 70 per cent of the country’s population unbanked, many banks are developing various strategies to attract as many customers as possible using value added services.
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The commonest strategy adopted by banks is to make banking easily accessible and convenient to customers as best as they can. This has brought about the introduction of many E-banking packages into the market.
It is in light of this aggressive competition that the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), continues to bring forth innovative products to stay on top of competition.
According to The Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Solomon Adu Atefoe, ADB does not emulate the practice of many banks that bombard their customers with products they don’t need but rather focus on how best they can satisfy each individual customer.
“I don’t think banks should be bombarding customers with a lot of services they don’t need. At ADB we allow our customers to select what kind of product they need before we offer it to them. We have observed that each customer has his/her own peculiar need.
“For example, we have a wide range of E-banking services but we allow our customers to choose which one they like, being it mobile banking, QuicCash, Visa Card, QuicAlert services, QuicNet internet banking, among others. A customer may like to use mobile banking but may not be interested in internet banking, so why push it on him with a fixed charge for all ebanking services no matter the preference of the customer? So what ADB does is to actually give to the customer what he wants,” he said.
Home-Link
One innovative product that the bank has introduced into the market is the “home-link” account which can be jointly used by customers living outside the country as well as their local representatives with the utilization of Visa Card and QuicNet for the account owner and QuicCash (Local Card) for the local beneficiary for withdrawals for projects. The account helps the account holder to be able to monitor transactions in and out of the account as opposed to the former practice where local representatives had total control of the account without the knowledge of the substantive account holder.
This, Mr. Atefoe said it’s a move to help address the long standing problem where people leaving abroad open account here with the hope of doing a project in Ghana and are subsequently duped by family members and friends who have access to the accounts.
“What we do in order to stay on top of competition is to try to vary our products and add value in terms of pricing and customer service so that customers get superb experience than they would have if they are offered the same service from another bank.
“For example, our mobile banking product on *767# gives absolute convenience to our customers as they can transfer funds directly from their accounts, check balances, link multiple accounts, purchase airtime from all networks for themselves and others with bonus airtime, pay utility bills like Dstv, Purchase MTN Mobile Money ecash and Tigo Cash, access forex rates among others on their phones. This presents absolute control and comfort, cuts the hassle and cost of commuting to the banking hall for GHS1 per month.”
More products
Other products the bank has introduced into the market that has offered convenience to their customers include: QuicCash; proprietary cards to access cash in all ATMs in Ghana and also shop domestically, QuicNet; internet banking for both consumer and corporate customers to access funds, statements and issue transfers, Visa debit cards; Secured Chip and Pin classic card to access all Visa ATMs and POS worldwide, which is also equipped with Verified by Visa (VbV) which allows customers to pay fees and make payments online securely, QuicStatements; to receive account statements in emails for free daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, QuicPay; convenient collections platform for school fees collections, electronic vouchers, ECG payments, Dstv Payments, Biometric Passport, WAEC Payments, NLA transactions, MTN Mobile Money and Tigo Cash Transactions offering you and one stop shop for all your payments, QuicAlert; to receive SMS notification on all transactions on your account for total control among others.
“One way we offer convenience is to ensure that our customers have access to their accounts 24/7 using our extensive ATM services. The first product that offers convenience to our customers is one of our proprietary card services (QuicCash) which can be used to shop throughout the country.
“We also have the Visa cards which can be used to shop all over the world. There is also internet banking for our customers who can transact business using their bank accounts anywhere they are. We also provide mobile banking services where customers can purchase airtime for themselves or for somebody with bonus credits added. Customers also have total control over all their accounts with our e-mail and mobile alert systems. So we have a lot of varieties of products to provide convenience to our customers,” Mr. Atefoe said.
One of ADB’s E-banking services that saw a tremendous growth was its mobile banking services. According to Mr Atefoe, subscription of the product was so phenomenal that within six months of its launch, more than 50,000 customers had subscribed.
The bank’s “QuicAlert” service also now has a customer base of over 300,000 with over 50,000 subscribing from the Northern Region alone within few month of launch; whereas, over 100,000 customers are using Visa cards to access funds and for online shopping.
“Our products have been very successful. Within six months of launching our mobile banking service we crossed the 50,000 target of customers. QuicAlert currently has over 300,000 customers enjoying instant sms on transactions. We also have over 100,000 customers using our visa cards.
“When it comes to our proprietary cards, we have over 300,000 customers using it. One interesting thing we found was in the Northern part of Ghana. They are embracing the QuicAlert services more than the south. When we launched the QuicAlert, over 50,000 customers subscribed to the service whereas the southern part was 10, 000,” he noted.
Innovations
He however maintained that ADB will continue to develop innovative products which will ensure that customers continue to receive value-added service which will in turn attract prospective customers to the bank.
“There are some products that this year we want to introduce. For example, we have created a niche for associations which is dubbed “collabo” and “collasave” accounts. This will specially be for associations such as Societies, Clubs, NGOs, Religious organizations and co-operatives which will give them wonderful rates. So we will be introducing products that will reach out to the underserved groups,” Mr. Atefoe said.
