GTbank pioneers social banking services on facebook

In a bid to promote financial inclusion in the country, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc on Wednesday unveiled its social banking service on popular social networking site, Facebook.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony in Lagos, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said the service would allow the public to open accounts and get customer service support via Facebook.

He said the bank's objective was to engage members of the public where they worked, lived or played, adding, "The new service will enable persons on social networks like Facebook to commence a banking relationship and perform transactions 24/7, safely and conveniently, without having to leave the platform."

Agbaje said the service presently only allowed people to open GTBank accounts, but pointed out that the bank would introduce new service options that included money transfers, airtime purchases and bill payments.

The GTBank boss added that the institution was committed to the convenience of its stakeholders and would continue to introduce value-adding alternative channels in the future.

"GTBank has been at the forefront of industry innovations within the Nigerian financial service sector over the last 22 years. The bank is the first Nigerian institution to have recognised online/social channels as an emerging service point, and has over one million followers on Facebook; the largest for any African bank," Agbaje said.

The bank recently introduced the GTBank mobile money that allows customers  and non-customers to perform transfers and payments from their mobile phones to any mobile phone subscriber in the country.

-punch