Firstbank Inaugurates Banana Island Digital Xperience Centre

Ugo Aliogo

The First Bank of Nigeria Limited has assured its customers of opportunities to experience world-class innovative banking services through the bank’s Digital Xperience centres.

The Managing Director, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Adesola Adeduntan, announced this at the inauguration of the bank’s Digital Xperience centre in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday.

He remarked that the centre would be the fourth fully automated branch to give customers the desired banking experience.

He further explained that the Ikoyi centre is a state-of-the-art hub completely automated and made interactive for self-service to eliminate need for tellers or human staff, adding that the centre is equipped with ATMs, card issuance stand, a humanoid robot and teller cash recycler.

Adeduntan averred that First Bank had also begun technological revolution to give customers seamless banking experience.

He said that the Banana Island First Bank Digital Xperience centre would deliver a world-class self-service to customers.

He noted that the first three branches were located in Victoria Island, Ibadan and Abuja.

The First Bank MD noted that plans were ongoing to roll out additional five branches in choice and strategic locations across the nation before the end of 2024.

“The pillar of the transformation of the bank that we started about seven, eight years ago is investment in technology and deployment of technology to exceed our customers expectations consistently. At the heart of our transformation is customers, because we believe that the primary reason why we have been successful over the last 130 years is because we focused on our customers and that focus has not changed. Specifically, we have been rolling out the Digital Xperience centres where our customers can walk into a comfortable location of this nature, conduct or transact with us without any human intervention. Feedback from previous locations were impressive and expressed hope that individuals living in Banana Island and its neighbourhood would take advantage of the centre.”

Speaking on the digital edge, he noted that customers could issue digital cards themselves.

The Group Executive, E-Business and Retail Products Division of the bank, Mr. Chuma Ezirim, revealed that the bank was considering cloud technology as an important option to guide against internet cuts.

Ezirim disclosed that the inauguration of the Digital Xperience centre was part of strategies to take banking to the door step of customers and come up with solutions to help customers in easier business transactions.

The General Manager of the Banana Island Estate, Mr. Shola Odukoya, lauded the bank for opening Digital Xperience centre in the area.

Also, the Group Executive, Technology, Digital Innovations and Banking Services of the bank, Mr. Callistus Obetta, said that beyond automation, the centre provided ambient welcoming environment for users.

He added that world leading cutting edge security and digital biometric authentications were included in backend servers to ensure customers’ funds safety.