In a bid to make financial services easy and accessible for Nigerians, Fidelity Bank Plc, at the weekend, launched its “pay yourself” product for customers whose salaries are domiciled in the bank for convenience to enable them be in control of their finances.
Speaking at the virtual launch of the product in Lagos, the bank’s Chief Technology Officer, Christopher Onyeneke, said the product launch is in line with Fidelity Bank’s mission statement while adding that the product has been in use for its employees for about 11 months.
“We decided to empower our staff with the product as Fidelity Bank has been undergoing digital transformation. The newly launched product has been in use for our staff for 11 months and when we saw the benefits, we decided to extend it to customers due to the positive feedback we got.
With the product, one can decide when you receive your salary via USSD between the ‘official’ payday and the last day of the month. We understand that salary payment brings about anticipation and the thought of being in control of when your salary is paid, so that brings us to how we got here”, he said.
According to Onyeneke, the product affords convenience because it is fully automated, thereby eliminating manual processes in salary payments. He said, “Anybody could complete the process using a USSD code via their mobile phones as it also gives time for people to focus to do more strategic things because it removes the manual part from the Human Resources team.”
Also speaking, Programme Manager, Digital Transformation, at the bank, Oluwole Oni, disclosed that there were four steps to register under the product.
Oni said the first step involved the customer sending a short code: “77050*400058#, which takes you to step two where you select the salary account, then step three to confirm the salary payment and step four which requires a USSD pin. According to him, after the process, the customer’s salary is paid instantly.
“Fidelity Bank is based on customer experience and so the product is ready for customers by taking these four easy steps. We want to target everyone who wants to partake in this and so there is no limit to the target. There are no hidden charges or interest rates on this product and even the SMEs can tap into this innovation,” he said.