Access to basic banking services is an essential cornerstone of sustainable economic growth for any developing country. Unfortunately, a lack of access to such banking services is still a reality for many people and families in communities across Africa.
First National Bank is successfully changing this reality for growing numbers of people in most of the African countries in which it operates in – and the highly positive response to the innovative First National remote banking offering, called Agency Plus in Ghana and CashPlus in other First National Bank subsidiary countries, shows just what an impact accessible banking can have on the people who need it.
According to Akweley Laryea, Head of Retail Banking at First National Bank Ghana, the First National Bank Agency Plus service has seen stellar growth since it was first launched, culminating in transactions on the platform across Africa reaching almost US$70million in value for the month of December 2021.
“We consider this to be a very significant achievement, given that First National Bank Agency Plus only started officially in Zambia as Cash Plus in mid-2018,” Akweley says, “not to mention that the growth over the past two years has been against the very challenging backdrop of Covid-19 in all the countries where First National Bank operates.”
First National Bank Agency Plus is a safe and convenient way for individuals to deposit and withdraw cash at a local shop or merchant registered as an Accredited Agency Plus Partner in Ghana. The transaction is usually completed either via the First National Bank App or using the USSD.
She explains that “the accessibility and immediacy of First National Bank Agency Plus appears to have put the solution in an advantageous position during the Covid-19 pandemic. Customers were drawn to the convenience and cost-efficiency of the banking services it offers.”
The successful roll out of the Agency Plus service in the First National Bank subsidiaries is the evidence that it has become a highly trusted community banking channel in these countries, not just the 193percent year-on-year growth in transaction value across the platform, but also the 122percent year-on-year increase in the number of customers transacting and the 85percent growth in merchants who are now active agents.
In the less than four years that Agency Plus has existed, First National Bank leveraged the solution to increase its electronic points of presence (in addition to merchant-based service points) by over 1565percent to meet growing demand.
“We are deeply invested in enhancing the lives of all our customers and delivering on our promise to help them get the most out of their money. It’s clear that our Agency Plus offering is a valuable enabler of this commitment in our countries of operation across Africa, so we feel we have a responsibility to make its many benefits available to more people and small businesses.
We currently have Agency Plus in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western Regions and will rapidly increase the number of our Agency Plus partners in Ghana by the end of 2022, to enable us realise the goal of true financial inclusion and create more access to financial services,” concludes Akweley
