BANK OF AFRICA INTRODUCES AGENCY BANKING SERVICES

The Managing Director of Bank of Africa Tanzania, Adam Mihayo addresses the media during the launch. Others in the photo are Senior Officers from the Bank and Selcom Company.

The Managing Director of Bank of Africa Tanzania, Adam Mihayo (second right) makes a money transaction with an agent during the launch of the 'Bank of Africa WAKALA' service. From left are the Bank's Senior Officers, Nandi Mwiyombella - Head of Marketing and Communications and Head of Digital Services - Jesse Jackson. On the right is the Service Manager of Selcom - Galus Lutanya.

Bank of Africa Tanzania has introduced Agency Banking services dubbed ‘Bank of Africa WAKALA’ with an aim to improve proximity to customers and increase presence across the country.

In partnership with Selcom, the model allows Bank of Africa to contract Selcom Huduma agents across the country to serve as banking agents offering financial services on its behalf.

Speaking during the launch, Adam Mihayo, the Managing Director and CEO for Bank of Africa Tanzania said, “This is a momentous achievement for the bank, as we continue our journey towards digitization of our products and services, creating convenience for our customers on how, when, and where to access the bank service beyond traditional branch channels”.

“As we launch the new service channel today, we roll out a total of 100 agents across the country in the initial phase, and an additional 200 agents in the second phase. This is a significant achievement towards taking banking services to the people of Tanzania, the bank remains committed to the development of country’s economic agenda through the various investments made and that we continue to make”.

Jesse Jackson, the Bank’s Chief Digital Officer explained that the development is in response to a quest to penetrate the local market and improve access to financial services. “Our focus is based on financial inclusion and the need to drive digital platforms enabling our customers to access financial services right within their neighborhood, Bank of Africa WAKALA's bring convenience to our customers by offering Cash in, Cash out services for a start”.

“Exceptional customer experience is key to us as Bank of Africa, we want our customers to feel welcome not just to the banking halls but to all our touch points. We want to establish a relationship with everyone who is bankable irrespective of their income range or social status and digitization is one of the key pillars that make up the bank’s strategic objectives in our strategic plan, more innovation is yet to come as we head towards achieving this goal,” said Jesse,

By rolling out the Agents model, the bank is also increasing the number of players in the financial system value chain consequently creating jobs and economic opportunities as it offers good commission rates to its WAKALA's.

Jesse Jackson emphasized that in line with the Bank’s strategic direction, Bank of Africa Tanzania remains committed to providing retail digital financial solutions that not only meet customers’ lifestyle and financial needs but provide convenience, ease, security, and exceptional customer experience.

The intent is to cater to all the needs of our customer segments, support financial inclusion and provide a platform for all to have access to banking services.

Touching on Selcom's participation, Selcom's Executive Director, Sameer Hirji notes that Selcom will continue to take charge in the financial technology sector leadership. This partnership with BOA bank is one step further as we all move towards our goals. "For about 20 years now, Selcom has been a leader in financial technology and payment services including agency banking and cashless payment services. We are looking forward to more partnerships in the financial industry years to come”.