Akweley Laryea
FIRST NATIONAL Bank (FNB) says its Agency Plus service has seen stellar growth since it was first launched, culminating in transactions on the platform across Africa, reaching almost $70 million in value for December 2021.
Akweley Laryea, Head of Retail Banking at First National Bank Ghana, said “We consider this to be a very significant achievement, given that First National Bank Agency Plus only started officially in Zambia as Cash Plus in mid-2018,” Akweley says, “not to mention that the growth over the past two years has been against the very challenging backdrop of Covid-19 in all the countries where First National Bank operates.”
FNB Agency Plus is a safe and convenient way for individuals to deposit and withdraw cash at a local shop or merchant registered as an Accredited Agency Plus Partner in Ghana. The transaction is usually completed either via the First National Bank App or using the USSD.
She explains that “the accessibility and immediacy of First National Bank Agency Plus appears to have put the solution in an advantageous position during the Covid-19 pandemic. Customers were drawn to the convenience and cost-efficiency of the banking services it offers.”
The successful roll out of the Agency Plus service in the First National Bank subsidiaries is the evidence that it has become a highly trusted community banking channel in these countries, not just the 193% year-on-year growth in transaction value across the platform, but also the 122% year-on-year increase in the number of customers transacting and the 85% growth in merchants who are now active agents. In the less than four years that Agency Plus has existed, First National Bank leveraged the solution to increase its electronic points of presence (in addition to merchant-based service points) by over 1565% to meet growing demand.
“We currently have Agency Plus in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western Regions and will rapidly increase the number of our Agency Plus partners in Ghana by the end of 2022, to enable us realise the goal of true financial inclusion and create more access to financial services”, concludes Akweley.