Finacle - Customers | Case Studies | United Bank for Africa

United Bank for Africa Marching Towards Leadership

Bank Profile

United Bank for Africa PLC (UBA) is the product of a merger of two of Nigeria’s top five banks, UBA and Standard Trust Bank Plc (STB). Today, consolidated UBA is largest financial services institution in sub- Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) with a balance sheet size in excess of 400 billion naira (approx. US$ 3 bn), and over two million active customer accounts. With over 400 retail distribution outlets across Nigeria, UBA also has a presence in New York, Grand Cayman Island and aspires to expand within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Key Business Drivers

UBA is the first successful merger transaction in the history of the Nigerian banking sector and was born out of a desire to lead the sector to a new era of global relevance by championing the creation of the Nigerian consumer finance market and leading a private/public sector partnership aimed at accelerating the economic development of Nigeria.

The Nigeria banking industry is going through so tremendous flux. The Central Bank’s mandate of a minimum N25 billion capitalization by December 2005 resulted in the Nigerian market witnessing consolidation activity on a large scale. Though the UBA-STB merger was consummated during the ongoing consolidation era, it was a strategic move by the bank to become a large regional player, with an increased reach and synergies in terms of larger customer base and complementary product portfolio.

Solution Overview

In its determination to continue to leverage on a robust IT infrastructure designed to achieve excellent service delivery to its teeming clientele, UBA opted for Finacle universal banking solution, comprising core banking, corporate e-banking, alerts, CRM and treasury solutions from Infosys in October 2005. The relationship between Finacle and UBA dates back to 5 years ago when STB changed from its existing Globus system to Finacle. Finacle core banking solution helped power STB’s rapid growth at the turn of the millennium and its emergence as one of Nigeria’s leading new generation banks. In addition STB is credited to have spearheaded the deployment of ATM's and internet banking in the Nigeria market riding on Finacle.

Reaping the Benefits

To power ahead in the dynamic post-consolidation banking landscape of Nigeria, UBA requires a technology partnership that transcended a typical customer-vendor relationship. From the STB experience, what emerged was the impeccable delivery track record of the Infosys implementation team. Recall that the bank (STB) completed a 65-branch roll out in quick time, less than 6 months, and a far cry from the 18-24 month implementation cycles prevalent in the country then. UBA also needs to capitalize on an integrated channel strategy that incorporated e-banking and CRM, among others.

Finacle will be deployed at UBA in a phased manner. In the first phase, core banking, treasury & e-banking solutions will be implemented. Finacle CRM solution would be deployed in the subsequent phase. It is expected to be a multi-country rollout, and the deployment extended to the US, UK & other countries where UBA has a presence.

View From the Top

“Finacle’s proven track record with Nigerian banks was a key factor in our selection criteria. In the competitive and dynamic banking environment of Nigeria today, our bank requires a solution that can scale up to our growth plans and provide UBA the much-needed agility to create a clear differentiation in the market. We believe that Finacle possesses the qualities of flexibility and scalability, providing us with a competitive advantage to stay ahead and provide new and improved products and services to delight our customers”

Mr. Phillips Oduoza
Executive Director, Group Shared Services (GSS)
United Bank for Africa

Top