Stakeholders Hail Citibank's NIBSS Electronic Funds Transfer
By Patrick Ugeh
In a move to make banking more attractive and more facile for its teeming customers, Citibank has unveiled some of the facilities and services it has introduced in its ever growing desire to give the best that technology can offer to its clientele, many of whom were excited at the prospects of its newly launched product.
At the NIBSS Electronic Funds Transfers (NEFT) product launch at its Idowu Taylor head office recently, a team of Citibank's top management staff treated a cross section of its customers to a visual display of some of its newly introduced products as well as its track record as a leader in electronic fund transfer.
The Managing Director of Citigroup's Nigeria International Bank Limited, Mr Khalid Qurashi, said Citigroup with a capital base of $104 million, the largest in the financial services industry, is a leading advisor worldwide on strategic issues. Among them are receivables and payments processes, securities, as well as settlement systems.
He explained that with its award-winning web-based banking platform, CitiDirect Online Banking, launched in 1999 as the first multi-product web-based electronic banking system for corporate clients, the bank had gone on to carve a niche for itself.
Among the top five in transaction services worldwide with presence in 90 countries, Citibank, according to Qurashi, is the largest business in sub-Saharan Africa.
Head, Global Transaction Services, Ms Ireti Ogbu, said the bank's NEFT was now paying cheques, initiating foreign exchange payment, accepting cash deposits and takes care of enquiries while providing great security for customers' deposits.
She said the product was actually providing a global platform for customers in a local environment.
Amplifying the services of NEFT, Payments Product Manager of the bank, Mr Henry Okojie, explained that with the new facility, there is no problem of reconciliation while transfers could be done in 24 hours except where the details relating to the payee's account were wrong in which case the receiving could not credit the account.
He said in addition, the risk of fraud is reduced, and that forms are filled in CitiDirect Online transactions.
According to him, although there was the possibility that it would be increased, the limit for each transaction for now was N1 million.
Okojie said information is constantly updated, while NEFT could be used for the payment of salaries, vendors, contractors, taxes and many other types of transactions. Furthermore, he said statements of accounts are sent daily like in any normal transaction.
The Payments Product Manager outlined the categories of their customers to be those who already use CitiDirect, engaged in one type of payment or the other; those on CitiDirect but do not pay or make transactions, only viewing information even though they can use the facility to make payment; and those not on CitiDirect.
A representative of one of the customers, Mr Lekan Salami, Treasury Operations Manager of GlaxoSmithKline, enthused that he was quite impressed by the demonstrations, saying: "I can't wait (to begin enjoying the service.) It is fantastic."
Noting that most people had been sceptical about the product, "it is now agreed that we can't wait behind."
He traced his company's dealings with Citigroup to 1984-85, during which period the bank had been helpful.
"They have really supported us," he admitted. "Their response to queries and problems is prompt and they are always willing to assist."
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