30 January 2014, Lagos – Diamond Bank Plc Wednesday said it plans to expand its branch network to about 300 before the end of this year.
The Chief Finance Officer, Diamond Bank, Mr. Abdulrahman Yinusa who said this in a chat with THISDAY explained that the investment in branch expansion would enable the financial institution to effectively play in the retail segment of the market.
According to Yinusa, the bank had 253 branches as at the end of 2013.
“Our target is that at the end of this year, we will have about 300 branches. We shall also open a lot of electronic branches in relevant areas across the country, where there will be very minimal human interactions, but just for customers to do their transactions.
“There will be a lot of Point of Sale (PoS) machines and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that will allow customers to carry out transactions instead of carrying cash about,” he added.
Yinusa noted that as a retail institution, there was need for the bank to expand its branch network so as to meet the needs of its customers.
He also revealed that a study conducted by the bank three years ago had shown that for it to effectively play in the market as a retail institution, it required 350 branches across the country.
To this end, he said the bank has also been deploying PoS machines aggressively.
“In terms of financial inclusion, we are into a lot of partnership. We have a partnership with MTN where MTN subscribers can easily open account with Diamond Bank. The MoU was signed last year and we are now at the pilot stage of the implementation,” he said.
He added: “Part of the difficulty in opening account is the issue of Know-Your-Customer (KYC). But with the coming of GSM and the regulation that stipulates that all mobile phone subscribers must register their phones that challenge of KYC has been removed.
“This is because the telecom company has all the data of their subscribers. So if they want to open account with Diamond Bank, it is just for them to walk into any of our branches and open the account,” he added.
– Obinna Chima, This Day