By: Audrey Raymonda John
Africell Sierra Leone has on Friday 18th November 2022 launched Afrimoney Put’ N Pull (Quick N’ Easy) with one of the leading Banks in Sierra Leone Rokel Commercial bank (RCB).
This event took place at the Rokel Commercial Bank Juba Bridge in Freetown.
The initiative of the Put’ N Pull Afrimoney is a way to have quick and easy access to money and it is also a way of improving financial inclusion in the country.
With this Put “N” Pull Afrimoney it will be easy for customers to get their money without even going to the bank.
This service is operating all over the country.
In his welcoming address, Umaru Shyllon Business Centre Manager at the bank said this signify the collaboration between Fintex and Digital Banking which indicate that the bank is collaborating with Africell to launch this “Put N Pull” afrimoney.
He said this has been a long journey for the bank which is the leading bank in the country and Afrimoney as the widest and largest network in the country.
He furthered that this product confirms the financial inclusion drive their Managing Director Dr. Gilpin is preaching all over the country, adding that he has been all over Sierra Leone conducting quiz and holding seminars on financial inclusion which is also preached by the Central Bank.
Shyllon furthered that the collaboration with Afrimoney shows that the financial inclusion drive is moving. He added that this facility will enable their customers to get money from their account to their wallet which means for everywhere there is Africell there is Rokel Commercial Bank.
He thanked Africell for given them access to their customer data base because this will help their customers that live far away from going to the bank to collect money they will take anywhere there is Africell money.
Abassie Thomas Director of Finance Rokel Bank said Rokel Bank in Sierra Leone is a brand name like wise Africell as they are not companies anymore but brand names.
He said for these two entities to come together is a very big explosion in the country.
He added that banking is like a formal institution as it provides formal services to their customers.
He added that Africell also is formal company but most of their businesses are on the informal sector and if this two companies comes together wherein they have Africell customers or subscribers in which they have millions subscribers in the country and Rokel bank has thousands of people when they come together is a massive explosion.
He said for any country to develop they need that smooth transfer of monetary services in the country.
He said Rokel Bank has taken the lead in financial services and financial inclusion in the country and they have their unit in the bank that has been all around the country preaching financial inclusion.
He said for them now to team up with Africell is a very laudable idea as it will be a win situation for customers, subscribers of Africell and also for the government of Sierra Leone because when there is smooth flow of financial transaction it brings up development in the country.
Martison Obeng-Agyei Director Afrimoney in his statement said they at Afrimoney are excited about this as they have put so much effort on this.
He said this is a service that will bring a lot of relief to their Afrimoney customers who saves with Rokel Commercial Bank and even those who did not save with the bank to be encouraged to do so.
Director Martison furthered that the good thing about this partnership is that it offers the customers the chance to be able to save anytime of the day, any day of the week and also any season whether raining or dry season.
He said if a customer cannot walk to the bank they can walk into Afrimoney store load their money from their wallet unto their phone and deposit it from their into their bank account without having to come to the bank and they will get the same alert that they would have gotten when they walk into the bank.
He said this partnership also means that Afrimoney Agent network is now available as single bank branches to all Rokel Commercial customers and with this partnership they have opened for their customers over six thousand (6000) new branches and customers anywhere in the country if they don’t see Rokel Commercial Bank sign and they see an Afrimoney sign it is a branch that Rokel Customers can go to and make a deposit into their account.
He said with this partnership they hope their customers will be happy and they will satisfy them more and they will ensure that their services are available twenty-four (24) hours a day because the bank has a closing time and the agents work beyond the bank closing time.
He said on a raining day if a customer cannot get a kekeh or bike from their home to the nearest bank they can just walk to the nearest agent and make a deposit into their bank account.
Director Martison furthered that with mobile money customers can be in their house and deposit one Leone into their bank account and that what the bank wants to encourage customers to deposit as little as they have on a daily basis from their daily work into the bank account so that it can accumulate into good saving and when a customer wants facility from the bank it will become easy as the bank has a record on how much a customer is able to do.
He said they are very excited about this partnership and they are expecting that it will give them great joy and they would put all the resources they have as a company make them available to the bank so that they will be able to satisfy their customers, adding that they continue to improve the technology together as two big brands to ensure that all their customers are happy.
He therefore informed all their customers using Afrimoney that from now they can now make their deposit and withdrawals through Rokel Bank and they can sign up and have this service available.
He encourage customers of the bank to come up and customers on Afrimoney that don’t have an account yet is now one reason to open an account that they can send money in and out of the bank.
Manager of Rokel Commercial Bank Gilpin said when looking at Financial Access Point is to look at people who are average to get their money easier and at any time they want it. He added that as a bank they are on a trust to improve financial sector.
The trust is on different aspect of the financial sector and the banking sector itself. He said they are also looking at financial debt which is how customers dollars, Leones, pounds are digitalized within the decision itself.
In Financial Efficiency is how well the customer used their Leones in the industry to bring out profit for the organization.
He added that financial debt is the value of the industry in relation to value economic size, adding that financial literacy is how much customer can use their knowledge to understand how to write their finances and made reform decisions of their retirement.
Dr. Gilpin furthered that financial inclusion is how customer utilized their product and services that the financial sector gives to them and this is one key area of financial inclusion on how customers utilized Afrimoney, mobile money, Sim Kopor, access reform all over and in financial inclusion customers have to think a lot about the Emellos and how to work towards these particular gems to utilize what customers have.
He said this is a symbiotic relationship and it is beneficiary to everybody.
He said increase in financial access point has two things in it one is access to finance that is financial determination and financial access point is the point where a customer is able to take their money and go or deposit their money and go.
He said they as a bank are running agency banking and Africell are doing Afrimoney to over six thousand agents and they are providing service for the communities.
He said as a bank they are proud to be able to run on the frame work on the backbone of the Emellos and they are proud to collaborates the Emellos to be able to come out where they wants to be.
He said Afrimoney today linking up with them makes them more pivotal and more relevant in reality to banking with them.
He said this relation between the bank and Africell is going to benefit not only the bank or Afrimoney but the wider community at large.
He said they really need to be sure that they have the technical capacity to make sure this work all the time and they are assuring the people that they will do their best to make sure this service works all the time as so that more and more people get Afrimoney and that will make more people to go to the bank.
He said what the bank does and what the mobile company does are slightly different but they are the same and if a customer have a bank account they have access to financial termination, access to overdraft, access to small advice and the customer can move their bank out and their money out through the bank.
He said if a customer have Telco and it have access to their sim card, afrimoney wallet but they give bigger loans than what the Emollos did. He said they are happy to have this harmonious relationship as afrimoney reintegrated with Rokel Bank and they can launch this big project and they can start using it and all they want to hear is more success stories from customers