Cogebanque Plc has reported increased demand and usage of their digital banking services by individuals and institutions largely due to the improved relevance of the services and products.
The bank’s portfolio of digital banking services includes mobile banking services, internet banking as well as card solution.
Below are the top features of the bank’s digital banking services:
Relevance
According to Raoul Ndayambaje the Head of digital Banking and alternative Channels at Cogebanque, all offerings are aimed at being relevant to be compatible with clients of all walks of life for both small and large scale use.
Ndayambaje said that while different aspects ranging from market structure, client convenience and others go into informing efficiency, the ultimate aim is relevance for users.
Compatible across different users
The local, regional and global growth in demand for digital banking services risks further driving financial exclusion in the event the solutions are not compatible to different users’ preferences.
With regard to this, Cogebanque said that they have ensured that their solutions are compatible with both Smart phones as well as feature phones which are used by a section of the clientele.
"The data usage in the country is growing and we know very well that the trend is not about to stop – we ask ourselves how to accompany our customers in that transition. Our systems that are used on phones are compatible with smart phones and USSD on feature phones. We are seeing an uptake in mobile applications and while there may be the cost of data, the more the use, the cheaper it gets,” Ndayambaje said.
For instance, the bank’s mobile banking platform via application and USSD allows a wide range of services for all user categories including; Account movement Alerts (SMS and email), balance requests, funds transfer, bank statement, cheque book request, bills payment, mobile money push and pull among others.
Increased uptake and demand
In response to ongoing adjustments to constantly improve the platforms as well as benefits such as relevance, ease of use, cost reduction and convenience, the bank is seeing increased uptake and usage by users of all categories ranging from individuals to Small and Medium Enterprises as well as large firms.
"There has been a huge increase in clients using the mobile application and internet banking. More SMEs coming on board for internet banking. Easing the Streamlining of services and cost cutting. Even small SMEs are using it due to the convenience it creates,” he said.
Internet banking enables a range of transactions such as transfer to other banks, local and international, transfer to mobile money, bills payment, and taxes payment among others.
System reliability
Among the concerns that users of digital banking platforms have is system downtime and interruption which often see clients unable to access their funds or make transactions.
On this, the bank said that they are constantly adjusting their services and capabilities to avoid instances of downtime as well as fast response times in the event of any incident.
"Application uptime is a very key focus in our performance measurement – a lot has been done to build national infrastructure on which our offering is channelled and we are more than thankful to all involved. We are registering a continuous increase in our systems uptime however we need to have that uptime supported by a 24/7 customer service,” he said.