NIGERIA – Sterling Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s fully fledged commercial banks, has launched a new personalized banking service on WhatsApp with the aim of enhancing customer experienced.

Sterling Bank in a statement said that the WhatsApp personalized banking services was made possible through a collaboration with Clickatell, a global leader in mobile communications and chat commerce.

Sterling Bank Group Head, Digital Banking, Oladipo Alabede, explained that customers could now initiate a number of bank transactions including bank transfers,  airtime and bill payments, check balance and make BVN enquiries directly on WhatsApp.

Alabede further noted that statement generation directly on WhatsApp with the aid of Kiki, a new personalised financial assistant was now possible.

The Kiki financial assistant also connected customers directly to customer service, making dispute resolution seamless, Alabede explained.

Sterling Bank explained that the Kiki financial assistance was designed to provide personalised service to every customer of the bank.

 Kiki, according to the Sterling Bank, possessed conversational intelligence and would answer questions related to personal finances once prompted.

“Delivering banking on WhatsApp for instant messaging is desirous by our customers who want a reliable, convenient, and safe medium to perform basic banking transactions on their mobile devices,” Alabede stated.

He further noted that Kiki has improved security, preventing fraud while at the same time enabling customers have access to all their accounts.

 “The service is designed for self-service registration and the customers can sign on from any location,” Alabede explained.

Sterling Bank Plc, which is a full service national commercial bank is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Its shares trade under the Banking sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange with the symbol STERLNBANK.

The bank provides services to individuals, small businesses (SMEs) and large corporations through its the network of 179 branches distributed throughout Nigeria.

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