Henry Uche
First City Monument Bank (FCMB), recently took another bold step to deepen its history of excellence and consolidate its position as one of the foremost financial institutions in Nigeria. The latest milestone came in the form of a new thematic campaign titled, ‘’Feel Confident, Pursue your Aspirations’’.
The campaign, which showcases the warm, friendly, approachable, inspiring and energetic brand identity of FCMB and its values as a simple, reliable and helpful bank, is being communicated in print, television and radio outlets and also on social media, just as it continues to make raves as one of the most outstanding in recent times in the country.
The ‘’Feel Confident, Pursue your Aspirations’’ message tells compelling stories of the lives and business aspirations of diverse Nigerians and how FCMB supports them to bring such dreams and aspirations to reality. It also tells the story of the very diverse base of the customers that FCMB serves, its commitment to creating opportunities, adding more value and enhancing the overall customer experience of its clientele. This is aimed at further connecting with them to sustain their loyalty and patronage.
Indeed, the commercials of the new thematic campaign across media platforms clearly demonstrate the commitment of FCMB and its readiness to help existing and potential customers confidently translate their dreams, aspirations, ideas and business plans into real practical, measurable and successful ones.
In addition, the thematic campaign sends a clear message of conviction to all segments of people in the society who have any form of credible personal or corporate business idea, intention or plan, but have not been able to turn them into reality, that FCMB is ready to make them live their dreams. Credence is added by the fact the bank parades a team of experts in financial management, macro and micro financing, business design, development, growth and sustainability, among others.
Part of the proposition of the campaign goes thus: “You have got plans, let’s make them happen. At FCMB, we share your aspirations. Let us help you fulfil them with our specialised range of banking products and services. You have got an idea, let’s grow a business. Managing a business does not have to be a burden you bear alone. Get SME advisory support today. We power over 300,000 registered businesses with our array of business banking solutions. Take advantage of these solutions designed to support your business”.
The over 35 years old financial institution, which was recently awarded the prestigious International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001:2015 certificate for Quality Management System by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, is making this possible through its all-inclusive bucket of flexible products and services, structured to satisfy all banking needs of all segments of the society.
Commenting on the FCMB ‘’Feel Confident, Pursue your Aspirations’’ thematic campaign, the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Adam Nuru, said, “it tells the story of the diverse base of the customers that we serve at FCMB. It does not matter where you are, we support you to fulfill your life and business aspirations at FCMB. Our convenient electronic banking platforms and best-in-class relationship management model deliver great experience to our customers as we support them to achieve their great dreams for themselves, their families and their businesses”.
He reiterated that, ‘’Nigerians are aspirational and hard-working people. FCMB is the bank for all Nigerians, walking with them as partners to fulfil their life and business aspirations in the true spirit of its brand pay-off line; “FCMB- My Bank and I”.
In the same vein, the Group Head, Corporate Affairs of FCMB, Mr. Diran Olojo, explained that, “it is a tactical reaction to our bank’s periodic brand health checks. This is aimed at regularly feeling the pulse of our stakeholders in our continuous drive to satisfy them and sustainably achieve excellent customer experience, qualities FCMB has come to be associated with, over the years”.
In the same vein, the Managing Director of the bank said that as one of the few banks that consistently feature in the top 5 categories, across all segments, in the KPMG annual customer satisfaction survey, analysts are of the opinion the lender is on a stronger pedestal to deliver the very best in products and services.
FCMB provides one of the best alternate channels banking services cutting across ATMs, mobile banking, Point-of-Sale (PoS) and internet banking. The bank is among the first to deliver on-the-spot ATM cards, including Visa card and Mastercard, issuance in Nigeria. Last year, the bank deployed an additional 5,000 PoS machines nationwide to bring the number to 14,000. It also launched a new Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) mobile app to enhance alternate channels adoption among customers in the business segment.
FCMB’s self-service, stress-free and secured solution, (*329# USSD code), has equally continued to delight the public. Through this platform, customers carry-out various financial transactions, using their mobile phones. These include funds transfer, account opening, micro loans and top-up, account balance enquiry, airtime and data purchase, bills payment, among other value-added services, on the go and without any hurdles.
The bank explained that the *329# mobile banking solution forms part of its core strategy to expand its service channels by promoting and deepening the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless and financial inclusion policies. The development eliminates delays periodically experienced by physically visiting a branch of the bank or outlet to carry-out transactions. In addition, the initiative will reinforce the lender’s commitment to environmental sustainability, geared towards reducing the quantity of paper and other materials usage in the society of which printing of various banking documents forms a substantial part of the process.
A major component of FCMB’s sustainability principle is on agriculture and empowering farmers with a view to increasing their productivity potential as part of its financial intermediation role for national development. This is reflected in the bank’s intervention that has resulted in better access to financial resources by deserving individuals, organisations and companies. It has also led to improved processes, better output and profitability.
In the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises space, FCMB has continued to prove its mettle. It has developed number of cutting-edge products and services that have endeared it to Businesses. Some of these offerings include, the e-invoicing platform – a unique solution, designed to help businesses monitor and control their cash management, especially as it affects payments, receivables, reconciliation and other financial transactions, through the internet and other mobile channels among others.
In addition, the bank offers free banking transactions for a period of three months for new-to-FCMB SME customers. In line with the bank’s drive to partner with value content from the Fintech space, it has collaborated with Paystack to provide an innovative online collection platform for merchants and other businesses focused on enabling them to provide their customers with a seamless payment experience.
Beyond this, FCMB regularly organizes training and other capacity building programmes for SMEs to keep them up to speed with skills that would further grow their businesses, while also providing funding. Without doubt, the new thematic campaign of FCMB and other giant strides being recorded by the bank, show that it is on a journey to greater heights.
