E-Financial

5 Tips for Designing African Digital Banking Experiences for Young & Old

Published

9 years ago

August 24, 2016

Dewald Nolte, Co-founder and VP Business Development at Entersekt

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As mobile internet connectivity grows, African youth are fast embracing the opportunity to connect, converse and transact on the web.

According to the GSMA (Mobile Economy Report 2015), mobile internet penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa was expected to reach 38% by 2020.

This has largely been driven by lower costs of smartphones, which the GSMA says have decreased by 20% since 2008.

A rapidly growing local app market and easy access to games and social media have captivated the youth market.

Although the Millennials generation is a Western construct, African youth (18 to 34) – particularly the urban youth – are displaying similar online behaviour patterns to their counterparts in developed countries.

And, while the older generations may accuse them of being driven by a need for instant gratification, the youth’s expectation of simple, fast and always-on service is shifting how organisations design their offerings.

Banks, meanwhile, have built their credibility by portraying themselves as the bastions of the economy, institutions designed to protect your money, with caution built into their organisational DNA.

While this is important, of course, it isn’t something that necessarily attracts their fastest growing potential customer base.

Here are five pointers to help African banks attract and retain customers, no matter what their age, and to ensure they are preparing for future generational expectations.

1. Prepare to be compared
At the very outset, it’s important for banking institutions to understand that the younger generations are swiftly getting used to having information at their fingertips.
Research published by Pew Research Centre (2015 Global Attitudes Survey) shows that African youth are jumping at the opportunity to engage online.
In Tanzania, those aged between 18 and 34 are 17% more connected to the internet than their elders. This climbs to a significant 31% in both Nigeria and Kenya.
The research also shows that the connected youth are active on social media on a daily basis.
Social media is being used to ask questions and to make comparisons based on experience. Price comparison websites are also making it easier to make informed decisions.
This significantly changes the dynamic of how the youth choose products and interact with brands. It is obvious then, that banks will need to change the way they engage with the younger generation. Designing for a frictionless experience must be priority.

2. Just make it work
User experience becomes a key issue when servicing customers across generations.
Based on their engagement with global sites, the connected youth have an expectation that everything must work immediately, offer real value, in a seamless experience.
While the younger generations have a better understanding of technology, continued literacy challenges and multiple regional dialect demographics adds complexity to the user interface served up by financial institutions.
Complex security terms such as phishing and pharming can cause mistrust of the service. In many instances, this lack of understanding may lead to customers avoiding digital channels altogether, which in turn drives up the cost of delivery for the banks.
Making use of technology that appears exceptionally simple to the user takes away the fear factor.
When it comes to authentication, banks must guarantee their customers’ protection against phishing and other digital fraud vectors without the costly and clumsy use of one-time passwords.
These may give the appearance of good security, but they are less effective and overly complicated, particularly for those accessing services on their phones.
Removing complexities at the very outset of the transaction resonates with both the older and younger generations.

3. No one reads anymore
No generational cohort reads lengthy warnings or instructions.
People will click through to the end of an instalment or process without actually being fully aware of the details – or this may again increase their mistrust of the service.
Moreover, in our experience, when an organisation uses text-heavy instructions, abandonment rates shoot up. When communicating instructions, the “keep it simple” rule reigns supreme.

4. Markets are not the same
Companies also need to understand that new markets work very differently.
What may have worked in Botswana, may not be obvious to those in Kenya.
People use and engage with technology, language and each other differently in every market. This includes generational quirks.
Banks will need to tweak their user engagement depending on where they are operating.
Working with partners who have experience in a region allows a bank to learn from their experiences, which can save time and costly mistakes.

5. Innovating for future generations
We see a lot written about banks becoming simple transaction pipes. To avoid this, they must adapt in order to provide better value for their customers. This can be achieved in three ways:
A simple user authentication, which has excellent security, is a great way to build trust with customers.
Once this is in place, you can confidently open up your channels and add new services.
Banks can then begin leveraging their merchant network in order to start on-selling their products to their customers – essentially becoming an aggregated merchant platform. By nurturing trust, banks are able to capitalise on a captive customer base and bring to bear vast economies of scale.
The complexities of catering across borders and language barriers and for different generations with different user expectations are enormous. However, if banks invest in technologies that are simple, seamless and flexible, they can not only ensure all age groups form trusting, lasting relationships with them, but also take an important step towards building new revenue opportunities for the future.

Dewald Nolte
Co-founder and VP Business Development at Entersekt
Dewald Nolte helped establish Entersekt in 2008, and later took up the position of VP of Business Development for the company.
Having identified an urgent need for innovative new approaches to securing digital transactions and other sensitive data, he and his fellow co-founders set out to build a business that is dedicated to providing transaction authentication using digital certificate technology deployed to mobile phones.

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E-Financial

Ecobank Joins Trillion-naira Club for the First Time in 20 Years

Published

10 minutes ago

January 14, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has joined the trillion-naira exclusive club of firms, marking its first entry in its two decades of being listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

The Pan-African lender saw its valuation surge more than the N1 trillion mark on Monday, January 5, 2026. As of the close of trade on Monday, January 12, the stock had gained 7.4 percent, with its share price hitting N45. ETI has accrued 23 percent over the past four-week period alone, making it the 40th best on NGX.

“Ecobank Transnational Inc. is currently the 23rd most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N 1.07 trillion, which makes up about 1.02 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market,” according to African Stock Exchange data, a market analytics platform.

This historic feat follows the early repayment of $245 million of Ecobank’s $300 million Eurobond issuance to bondholders who validly tendered their notes ahead of the February 2026 maturity date.

This must have led to an improved confidence in the bank’s operation, which gained 61 percent a year ago despite the sell-off that rattled the bank’s stock in 2025.

More Nigerian lenders are seeing their market capitalisation cross the N1 trillion mark, suggesting renewed investor confidence in the sector that’s undergoing a recapitalisation exercise.

GTCO remains the most capitalised, with its valuation reaching N3.62 trillion as of January 12, followed by Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, and Stanbic IBTC with N2.75 trillion, N2.16 trillion, N1.94 trillion, N1.23 trillion, and N1.7 trillion, respectively. By crossing N1 trillion, Ecobank now sits among the country’s biggest lenders within the trillion-naira club.

Fidelity Bank, on April 4, 2025, saw its market value shoot above N1 trillion, making it the first tier-2 bank to cross the threshold. However, it slipped below the mark on May 20 following a Supreme Court ruling that pressured its share price. The bank’s valuation currently stands at N957 billion.

The membership of the exclusive club of listed companies with at least N1 trillion valuation has increased to 24, compared to 17 a year earlier, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

The top five members include BUA Foods with a market cap of N14.38 trillion, MTN Nigerian Communications with N12.70 trillion, Dangote Cement with N10.71 trillion, Airtel Africa with N8.53 trillion, and BUA Cement with N6.2 trillion.

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E-Financial

Wema Bank Upgrades ALAT Banking App

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Wema Bank Plc has launched the upgraded version of its flagship digital banking platform, ALAT by Wema. Designed as the next phase in digital banking, the upgraded version of ALAT delivers a smarter, faster, and more intuitive experience, reinforcing Wema Bank’s leadership in technology-driven financial services.

Tagged ALAT: The Evolution, the upgraded version represents a significant advancement in how customers interact with their bank.

It enables seamless banking through intelligent features such as voice banking (called SAW), which allows customers to carry out banking activities using natural voice commands, reducing friction and improving accessibility.

It also introduces Tap and Pay for quick, secure, and convenient contactless transactions, alongside uptime prediction that enhances transparency, reliability, and confidence around service availability.

Together, these innovations are designed to simplify everyday banking while anticipating customer needs in real time, reinforcing Wema Bank’s commitment to trust, efficiency, and customer-centric digital experiences.

While announcing the upgraded version of the ALAT Banking app, Moruf Oseni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, said, “ALAT: The Evolution is more than an upgrade. It is a clear demonstration of our commitment to redefining digital banking in Africa.

“By understanding the future of banking and listening closely to our customers, we have upgraded ALAT by Wema to a digital banking platform that is smart, intelligent and dependable. This evolution reinforces our promise to deliver innovation that genuinely enhances how people live, work, and transact everyday.”

He added that migrating to the upgraded app is seamless. “Existing customers can simply visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to update their existing ALAT app and sign-in with their existing login details (All their account information and transaction history remain intact on their profile and they will also gain access to new features that make banking faster, more intuitive, and more reliable).

For new customers, all they have to do is visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download ALAT by Wema app and click the Get Started icon to onboard seamlessly.

Speaking on the technology in the upgraded ALAT by Wema, Olusegun Adeniyi, Chief Digital Officer at Wema Bank, explained, “With ALAT: The Evolution, we set out to enhance not just functionality but the overall banking experience.

“By integrating voice banking, contactless payments, and predictive reliability, we are delivering a platform that is built on powerful technology and responds intelligently to customer needs. This upgrade reflects our long-term digital vision to create a digital bank that is adaptive, intuitive, and consistently available.”

Built on speed, intelligence, and user-centric design, ALAT: The Evolution redefines everyday banking through intuitive features such as voice-enabled transactions, contactless payments, and predictive service reliability. Designed to anticipate customer needs in real time, the platform delivers a smarter, more seamless, and dependable digital banking experience that reflects Wema Bank’s vision for the future of finance.

With the upgraded version of ALAT, Wema Bank continues to strengthen its position as a digital-first institution, delivering innovative solutions that empower individuals and businesses to bank with confidence in an increasingly digital economy.

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E-Financial

NDIC Declares Second Liquidation Dividend for Heritage Bank Depositors

Published

2 days ago

January 12, 2026

Ebere Melum-Nwogbo

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Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has declared a second liquidation dividend of ₦24.3 billion for depositors of Heritage Bank Limited (in liquidation) whose account balances exceeded the statutory insured limit of ₦5 million at the time of the bank’s closure.

NDIC Declares Second Liquidation Dividend for Heritage Bank Depositors

Heritage Bank’s operating licence was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024, after which the NDIC was appointed liquidator in line with the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and the NDIC Act 2023.

In a statement signed by Hawwau Gambo, head of the Communication and Public Affairs Department, the Corporation said “the second liquidation dividend would be paid at a rate of 5.2 kobo per ₦1.00 on outstanding uninsured balances. This brings the total liquidation dividend paid so far to 14.4 kobo per ₦1.00.

“The NDIC has now declared a second liquidation dividend of ₦24.3 billion. This amount, derived from debt recovery, sale of physical assets, and realisation of investments, will be applied to the payment of uninsured balances for depositors with funds exceeding the ₦5 million insured limit. The second liquidation dividend is payable at a rate of 5.2 kobo per ₦1.00 on outstanding balances, in accordance with Section 72 of the NDIC Act 2023. This brings the cumulative liquidation dividend declared to date to 14.4 kobo per ₦1.00”.

The NDIC recalled that it had earlier paid a first liquidation dividend of ₦46.6 billion in April 2025, representing 9.2 kobo per ₦1.00, following the reimbursement of insured deposits of up to ₦5 million per depositor from its Deposit Insurance Fund.

According to the Corporation, the second tranche was made possible through sustained recovery of debts and continued asset disposal.

“This payment is in furtherance of our statutory responsibility to ensure that depositors of closed banks are reimbursed promptly as assets are realised,” the NDIC said.

The Corporation explained that payments would be made automatically to eligible depositors using existing records. Depositors who have already received their insured deposits and the first liquidation dividend will have their alternative bank accounts credited automatically through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

However, depositors without alternative bank accounts or BVNs, as well as those who have not claimed their insured deposits or the first liquidation dividend, were advised to visit the nearest NDIC office nationwide or complete the e-claim form on the Corporation’s website for verification and processing.

The NDIC noted that liquidation dividends are paid only to depositors with balances above the insured limit and are sourced from asset sales and recoveries. Other creditors and shareholders will be considered only after all depositors have been fully reimbursed and subject to the availability of funds.

The Corporation assured the public that the ₦24.3 billion payment represents only the second liquidation dividend, adding that further payments would be made as additional assets are realised and outstanding debts recovered.

Depositors were advised to contact the NDIC Claims Resolution Department at any of its offices nationwide or through the Corporation’s official email addresses and helplines for further enquiries.

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