UBA OPENS MONEYGRAM RED SHOP IN OPEBI

Apr 23 2008

United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, Africa’s Global Bank has opened another Money Gram center in Lagos bringing to five the number of UBA branches solely dedicated to MoneyGram transactions in the country.

Speaking at the opening of the MoneyGram Red Shop in Opebi, Lagos, Mr. Emma Okoro, Divisional Head, Segment Banking, UBA, said the idea of dedicated MoneyGram offices is to enable the bank give focus to the money transfer customers. He explained that this move is predicated on the fact that UBA is MoneyGram’s pioneer super-agent and the largest agent bank in the West African sub region. “The concept of the UBA MoneyGram Red shop is to give the large market of MoneyGram beneficiaries uninterrupted attention. We will soon be creating more stand-alone Red Shops in addition to our over 600 MoneyGram-paying branches nationwide."

Country Director, MoneyGram International, Joke Giwa commended UBA for being the largest MoneyGram partner in Nigeria. She proclaimed that UBA had invested significantly in the growth of money transfer business by deploying new MoneyGram applications and increasing the number of branches that provide MoneyGram services to over 600 locations.  She also applauded the UBA “Red Shops” which are MoneyGram dedicated business offices for their quality and consistency.

Until recently, UBA was the only MoneyGram agent bank in Nigeria and although the number has grown to six, it has maintained the lead in terms of volume of transaction and innovation, winning the MoneyGram Excellence Award during MoneyGram’s Annual Africa Agents Conference in Johannesburg, South In 2006. According to MoneyGram International, UBA excelled in key areas including marketing, operations, network growth and profitability.

MoneyGram International noted that UBA’s market penetration strategy “recognised the importance of street level visibility at all their locations and opened dedicated locations which are strategically well-positioned for MoneyGram.” UBA’s performance derives from excellent customer service delivered by well-trained client-facing staff as well as the bank’s ability to embrace the various operational improvements introduced by MoneyGram within specified timelines.