By Chioma Obinagwam
Wema Bank, Nigeria’s longest surviving indigenous bank, wrote its name in the annals of innovation in the Nigerian banking industry as it successfully concluded the groundbreaking 945 Game Show hosted live on Facebook.
Every night at 9.45pm for 24 days, three winners emerged, winning cash prizes of N90,000, N40,000 and N50,000 in line with Wema Bank’s new USSD banking code *945#.
“If I expected a bank to host a game show I wouldn’t think of Facebook. If I thought about Facebook, I wouldn’t think of Wema Bank. But Wema Bank has shown that with age comes wisdom,” said Adekunle Adeniyi, a Lagos-based Digital Marketing professional.
“Wema Bank has set the bar higher in terms of how banks market their products and reward customers who adopt new services.”
Folake Sanu, an Executive Director at Wema Bank Plc. who co-hosted the last episode of the game show comments: “The game show is a wonderful platform to reward and encourage Wema Bank customers to use our new USSD banking code *945#. We are saying if you want to live the convenient and easy life, use *945#. We are with you all the way!”
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Since its launch on July 7, *945# has made banking easier for Nigerians, a lot of whom have adopted the service. The bank which has plans to open new branches across the country following a national banking license obtained last year, has been able to deploy its USSD banking platform to parts of Nigeria it is yet to reach. With about 80 percent of the Nigerian population owning a mobile phone, the new USSD banking platform has widened the reach of Wema Bank as confirmed by the 945 Game Show where winners emerged from all regions of the country. Over the past one month, tens of thousands of new accounts have been opened using *945#.
“Wema Bank has always been a brand that aligns with its customers and ensures that they have access to the best services which make their lives easier. We have proven this again with *945#. The experiences shared by our customers, who won on the 945 Game Show attest to the impact Wema Bank is making in the lives of its customers,” said Onome Odili, Head Brand and Marketing Communications at Wema Bank Plc.
Apart from its USSD banking, which is increasingly being adopted by Nigerians, Wema Bank will continue to roll out services that will make banking easier, using innovation to trigger growth.
Wema Bank is the first ever Nigerian lender to host a live game show on Facebook, a social media platform with 7.2 million daily users from Nigeria.