E-Financial
Banking Utility Model Key Driver of Customer-Facing Innovation- IDC
IDC Financial Insights believes that a “Banking Utility Model” would allow banks to train their focus on customer-facing innovations while keeping the commoditized parts of their business as low cost and efficient as possible.
The key tenet of the utility model is an agreement between banks to pool their resources for a particular line of business (LOB), setting up a dedicated entity to manage the processing. Different areas can call for a different degree of mutualization, whether just in the back or middle office, or covering specific end-to-end processes.
The rationale for the utility model includes:
Cost savings. By sharing development, infrastructure, and operational costs across an industry, individual banks can cut duplication and save money. A utility can benefit from specialization, economies of scale, and potentially also monopsony, as the only buyer of certain services.
Investment efficiencies. By combining investment dollars in a single entity, that entity will have higher purchasing power than individual banks. Capital-intensive projects are more viable when an individual bank only has to provide part of the capital, and share only part of the risk.
Consistent delivery. A utility can specialize in perfecting its narrow remit, while banks have a broader focus. Having a single utility across an industry for a particular process can also serve to standardize customer expectations, with industry standards and benchmarks supporting the utility.
Innovation. Banks can focus on innovation in their profit centers, and leave utilities to attend to their cost centers. In turn, the utilities can become more innovative since the cost of failure is shared among banks.
Lawrence Freeborn, senior research analyst, IDC Financial Insights said: “The banking industry in Europe is beset by challenges from many directions. Regulations such as the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III will ensure that compliance remains a headache for banks, at the same time that pressure is building from new entrants to the market.
“A new generation of start-up banks in countries such as the U.K., plus technology firms like Apple and retailers like Marks & Spencer, are encroaching on the banking space. They are forcing banks to cut costs and innovate in order to stay competitive and indeed relevant in the emerging landscape, which is increasingly centered around mobility, analytics, and personalized banking services. This industrial utility model could be the part of the answer to all these pressures.”
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for comments from financial services industry stakeholders in the country, policy makers and the general public towards the ongoing revision of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance System.
The proposed revision launched by IADI in May 2025, is a significant step towards enhancing the resilience and relevance of deposit insurance frameworks in the face of an evolving global financial landscape.
Specifically, the revision is aimed at comprehensively addressing structural changes, including digital innovation, the growing role of deposit insurers in resolution, and lessons learned from the banking turmoil in March 2023, which is the most significant systemic stress event since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
The IADI Core Principles are used by jurisdictions, including Nigeria, as a benchmark for assessing the quality of their deposit insurance systems and for identifying gaps in their deposit insurance practices and measures to address them.
The Core Principles are also used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the context of the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), to assess the effectiveness of jurisdictions’ deposit insurance systems and practices.
The first set of the Core Principles was issued jointly by the IADI and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in June 2009 while the document is subjected to periodic revision order to keep it up-to-date with evolving trends on the global financial system landscape.
As a founding and committed member of IADI, NDIC recognises the importance of the ongoing revision and hereby invites stakeholders and the general public to actively participate in the process by reviewing the document on the lin
Onafriq, Africa’s largest digital payments network, has celebrated a major milestone, connecting nearly 1 billion mobile money wallets and 500 million bank accounts across the continent.
According to a statement released by the company, Onafriq has evolved from a mobile money switch to a comprehensive omnichannel payments network, facilitating seamless transactions and financial inclusion.
The company’s network now connects 961 million registered mobile wallets and 464 million registered bank accounts, with over 2,000 cross-border payment corridors supported.
Speaking on the achievement, Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of Onafriq, said, “We remain fully committed to connecting every individual and business in Africa with each other and the world.”
Okoudjou noted that the company has grown in lockstep with the continent’s digital evolution, from mobile money to bank accounts, remittances, and real-time trade.
As Onafriq embarks on its next chapter, the company aims to develop infrastructure with local relevance while maintaining the scale of its pan-African infrastructure.
A prime example is Nigeria, where Onafriq is developing a unique payments stack that combines the strength of its cross-border network with the regulatory and foreign exchange realities of one of Africa’s most dynamic economies.
The company is also exploring blockchain infrastructure and stablecoin integrations to facilitate near-instant, programmable payments, aligning with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We are increasingly focused on creating infrastructure with local depth,” Okoudjou said.
With extensive experience, wide reach, and a proven execution track record, Onafriq remains dedicated to building a payment infrastructure that unlocks prosperity across borders and within local communities.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has informed its customers that, in compliance with a new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from bank accounts, effective June 3, 2025.
In a notice sent to customers, the bank explained that the charges would now be deducted directly from users’ mobile airtime balances, in line with the NCC’s newly introduced End-User Billing (EUB) framework.
It said the new model aimed to ensure transparency in USSD transactions and shift billing responsibility to mobile network operators.
According to UBA, each USSD session would now cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, saying that customers initiating transactions would receive a prompt to provide consent at the start of each session, and airtime would only be debited if the bank is available to process the request.
The bank advised customers who are not comfortable with the new billing arrangement to opt for other digital banking alternatives such as the UBA mobile app and internet banking platform, which remain fully operational and user-friendly.
UBA reaffirmed its commitment to providing secure and accessible digital services, and encouraged customers to choose the channel that best suits their banking needs.
The policy marks a significant shift in Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem and is expected to address longstanding disputes over USSD service charges between telecom operators and financial institutions.
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