Chief Information & Operations Officer (COIO), Fidelity Bank Plc, Gbolahan Joshua, has advised financial institutions in Nigeria to explore fresh ways to utilise the increasing wealth of customer data available to them to drive sustainable growth and improved efficiency particularly in the retail space. Joshua made this call at the 2016 Nigeria Retail Banking Workshop organised by CIUCI Consulting and held at the Clear Essence California Spa & Wellness Resort in Lagos on Thursday. He called for the development and implementation of policies that will provide Banks with the required flexibility to utilise available customer information as well as sophisticated digital channels and systems to drive new levels of customer engagement.

Alluding to the importance of the retail segment as next frontier of growth for Banks, the Fidelity COIO noted that lending which happens to be one of the most intricate services rendered by Bank is critical to socio-economic development. Commenting on the requirements to be considered by a bank before providing credit, Joshua pointed out that Nigerian Banks consider the interest rate and guaranteed sources of revenue before lending to individuals.

Chukwuka Monye who is the Director General of Delta Economic Summit Group and Managing Partner at Ciuci Consulting expressed his gratitude to all the representatives of the banks that were present at the workshop. He also promised to organise more workshops to improve the operational standards of banks in Nigeria in relation with their prospective customers. Ciuci is a consulting company responsible for carrying out in-depth studies in various sectors of the economy. By getting detailed consumer intelligence on different segments of customers, Ciuci is able to access the retail activities of banks in Nigeria through research. The workshop served as an eye opener to some of the issues affecting the retail space in Nigeria’s competitive financial services sector.