Raven Bank Marks Second Anniversary, Reiterates Commitment to Take Banking Services to Last Mile

By Vanessa Obioha

With over 500,000 customers and 5,000 businesses using its financial services nationwide, Raven Bank is poised to increase the number as it looks into the future. The digital microfinance bank made this known recently when it marked its second anniversary.

At a press briefing, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank Uchenna Nnodim revealed that since inception the bank has made about 20 million transactions and nearly one billion dollars transacted across its four products. 

Despite its key target customers being millennials and Gen Z, the bank is keen on meeting the unbanked whose digital skills may be limited. 

“There is a lot of intentionality in what we are doing with our products and how to take banking services to the last mile,” said Nnodim. “We have gotten approval from NCC to get our shortcode. We are working on our USSD banking. It is going to be different because you can literally do anything with our USSD banking. So we believe that we can extend some digital services to those in the villages even if they do not have a smartphone.”

Nnodim strongly believes that financial inclusion can only be successful if smartphones are eliminated. 

“That’s what we are building with the USSD. We hope to roll it out in the last quarter of the year.”

The Chief Marketing Officer, Jude Okorharen who spoke about the bank’s appealing UI/UX design that makes it the number one choice for its young customers, also talked about the username feature which can be used to carry out transactions for those who are not tech-savvy or have access to a smartphone.

Raven Bank started as a platform that helped customers manage all their bank accounts in one platform. It has since metamorphosed into a full-fledged digital financial institution with products such as ‘Raven Overdraft,’ ‘Raven Virtual Card,’ and many others that cater to the various financial needs of its customers. 

Moreso, during the cash crunch early this year due to the cashless, the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, Chidinma Onukogu disclosed that the bank saw an uptick in its daily transactions. 

“We used to carry out on average about 10,000 to 15,000 transactions daily but we did about 22,000 during that period. That’s an increase of over 40 per cent.”

Beyond offering digital financial solutions, the bank is also empowering entrepreneurs through the Raven Millionaire Programme (RMP).

“We go into dense communities and meet the entrepreneurs that need support and provide business grants to the tune of One Million Naira to support and grow their business. We also take them through one-week intensive financial courses to put them on the right track to grow their business,” said Nnodim.

He added that another big CSR programme is in the pipeline and will impact about 300,000 young Nigerians when it is eventually rolled out. The bank also plans to consolidate its success in the past two years and launch more innovative products that will make digital banking easier and retain its brand loyalty.