Nigeria-based commercial bank Sterling Bank Plc, has in collaboration with Clickatell, a global provider of mobile communications and chat commerce solutions, announced a unique and very personalised banking experience for existing customers and prospective account holders through the popular messaging app WhatsApp.
Sterling Bank Plc’s customers can now initiate bank transfers, airtime and bill payments, check balance and BVN enquiries, as well as generate statements directly on WhatsApp with the aid of Kiki, a new personalised financial assistant.
The financial assistant also connects customers directly to customer service, making dispute resolution seamless.
Designed to provide personalised service to every customer of the bank, Kiki possesses conversational intelligence and will answer questions related to personal finances once prompted. Kiki makes initiating banking transactions as easy as chatting with friends through the bank’s verified WhatsApp number +234 906 000 6449.
Oladipo Alabede, Group Head: Digital Banking, Sterling Bank, said: “Delivering banking on WhatsApp for instant messaging is desirous by our customers who want a reliable, convenient and safe medium to perform basic banking transactions on their mobile devices. It eases the stress of moving between apps before transactions can be concluded.”
According to Alabede, WhatsApp is easy, safe, fast and secure and it has improved security that prevents fraud and enables customers to have access to all their accounts.
“The service is designed for self-service registration and customers can sign on from any location. The current features of the app include Sterling to Sterling and Sterling to other banks’ transfers, airtime top-up, bill payments, balance enquiry, BVN enquiry and statement generation, among others.”
“We are pleased to help Sterling Bank enable chat banking on WhatsApp, making banking services available to its customers anytime and everywhere on a channel they use daily,” said Samson Isa, Director – West Africa, Clickatell. “Chat banking is the future of financial services with bank customers preferring the channel for conducting routine banking, as it is fast, simple and secure. We are proud to be leading this shift in financial services, along with customers like Sterling Bank.”
