By Omoh Gabriel,Business Editor
Like most banks that went through the con-solidation of the banking industry in a peculiar way, 2006 represented for Diamond Bank an opportunity to settle down fully to business. But the bank also happened to be among those that immediately began to reap the benefits of synergy arising from the exercise. For completeness of information, it should be noted that Diamond Bank effectively acquired Lion Bank through the Exchange of its seven new shares for 25 shares of Lion Bank on 31st October, 2005. The share exchange which gave rise to additional 840 million units created a goodwill of N4.64 billion in the books of the bank. According to the Managing Director’s testimony on the acquisition, “Lion Bank came as a strategic fit into our focus on retail banking.” Hence the acquisition was not necessarily only justified by the need to meet regulatory requirements but made a lot of commercial sense. Firstly, the target company was particularly active in the retail market of the Middle Belt region where Diamond Bank needed to penetrate. With this acquisition, the bank’s total personal accounts was reported to have grown 228 per cent in 2006 alone from
106,265 to 346,505. Interestingly, Lion Bank acquisition accounted for 136,426 of the total accounts or 56 per cent of the growth. Certainly, the bank began immediately to reap the benefits inherent in the N4.64 billion goodwill booked in this acquisition. This success in the retail market emboldened the bank to expand the scope of its retail business through the establishment of customer service outlets known as Diamond Minis as a channel of support to the major branches. The Diamond Minis are more like self-service outlets with complements of ATMs and interest points fashioned out for he convenience of customers. Other innovative products introduced during the period include DiamondXpress Account, Diamond Advance, Diamond Lease, Diamond Online, Any Time Money and Diamond Mobile. With these array of innovative produces and services, Diamond Bank is in no doubt all about the need for a robust IT platform for efficient delivery of these services.
Recently,, it launched a Universal Banking Application – the latest version of flexcube software. Apart from the capacity of this software to reduce cost and improve quality, it is particularly effective in data backup and recovery. The Bank went live with the application in January 2007 with strong promise of quality service delivery, integrity in financial reporting and quick decision-making cycle.
The launch of the latest version of this application is not surprising to industry watchers. It should be noted that in the 90’s, the bank did score first in Technology with its popular Diamond Integrated Banking System (DIBS).
This is all in the company’s desire to assure customers’ satisfaction at all times. It is also because of this that it instituted a unique “Mystery Shopper” within an elaborate feedback mechanism. This has improved responsiveness to customer requirements.
But the bank does not only respond to the needs of customers, it also regularly attends to the needs of other stakeholders. Accordingly, staff issues are taken seriously with questions of motivation and training always on top of the agenda. While a remuneration package that compares favourably with the best in the industry has since been adopted, management also implements a training policy of a minimum of 40-man hours per staff per year. This has naturally translated to high staff productivity.
To the wider community, Diamond Bank takes its corporate social responsibility issues serious with strategic focus to the areas of eye care, university sports and reduction in road accidents. Collectively, the bank spent about N75 million in such projects
GT Bank Plc
GTBank places a lot of premium on its customers. The customer is the heart of its business and it spares no opportunity to show it. From the moment one steps into any of its branches to the time he leaves, he is not left in doubt that the bank works for him. From the beginning, GTBank made transactions easy, allowing customers to effect transactions as quickly as possible. This was because they embraced Computerisation – a factor that many banks only began to wake up to in the last few years.
GTBank’s dedication to being customer friendly sometimes sounds like it belongs in a dream. The Managing Director of the bank is known to sometimes trade the comfort of his exquisite office for the banking hall to serve customers. Their interest is the customers’ satisfaction. This standard example of Customer Relations Management has gained attention at home and abroad. Professor Louis Nzegwu of the International Business Resource Centre, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, USA, who is a facilitator at the Lagos Business School, regularly cites GTBank as a Nigerian organisation where CRM has excellently been put into effect. GT Bank remains the first Nigerian bank to receive the highest rating from a global agency. Fitch, a top international rating agency, recently awarded the bank a ‘double A minus’ (AA-) while in Nigeria, it clinched a ‘triple A’ rating from (AAA) Agusto & Co.
GTBank friendliness takes root in its very character – from the ambience of the banking halls, ease of transactions, communication of charges to customers, and accessibility to its top officials.
