NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 21 — The Ecobank Group has opened affiliates in Uganda, further increasing its footprint in the region.
Ecobank Uganda opened for business with six branches in and around Kampala on Wednesday, bringing to 26 the number of countries in Africa in which Ecobank operates.
The bank is now consolidating much of its growth and expansion across mid-Africa.
“We are pleased to open for business in Uganda today (Wednesday), and welcome the opportunity to extend our range of retail, wholesale and transaction banking services to customers in Uganda,” said the Ecobank Uganda Managing Director Dele Alabi.
Meanwhile, Gulf African Bank has introduced a Point-of-Sale (POS) service for its ATM card holders that will ride on the Kenswitch network.
Abubaker Mukira, Head of Operations at Gulf African Bank, was upbeat about this achievement on Wednesday.
“Our bank realises the competitive environment that we are operating in hence the need to exceed our customers’ expectations by offering services that add value to the whole experience of banking with us. The point of sale service is convenient, free of charge and a timely intervention during these hard economic times where even saving a shilling counts,” he said.
Kenswitch General Manager, George Wainaina, said that Gulf African Bank was introducing the POS through the Debit Card to its cardholders, at a time when the service has been well established on the Kenswitch network.
“Over the last two years, Kenswitch has activated the service to over half of its 23 members. The merchant distribution network has a countrywide footprint and continues to grow with over 1,000 merchants accepting the Kenswitch branded card,” said Mr Wainaina.
The General Manager noted that 20 years after the introduction of ATMs in the local market, customers had become very sophisticated and were no longer content with taking a card and walking to a hole in the wall to withdraw cash.
“With the wide acceptability of cards in more merchant locations, customers want the convenience of carrying a card in their wallets or handbags and swiping it when they buy their groceries at the supermarket, or when paying for fuel at the petrol stations,” Mr Wainaina said.
