Polaris Bank Limited announced the launch of a new digital bank.
It announced this in a statement released on Sunday titled, “Polaris Bank set to boost Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem, unveils a new digital bank.”
With the growing opportunities in e-payment systems accelerated by the COVID-19, the bank said this was appropriate.
“Feelings indicate that the bank’s new digital bank, which has been in test mode among its employees and customers for some time, is set to grow its market share, targeting a new generation of digital natives and immigrants who are socially and financially aware of innovations in self-service and stress-free transactions,” according to the release.
“According to industry insiders, the long wait for the platform’s launch was to ensure that it met current global standards and could support other existing entities in the digital banking ecosystem.”
The bank said it had overhauled its information technology infrastructure and upgraded its digital capabilities in the last two years as part of its business transformation initiatives.
“This has seen the institution grow to earn the confidence of the banking publics, as it has been able to offer quality banking services at the cutting edge of technology,” said Innocent Ike, the bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
According to the statement, Polaris’ digital bank provided services that were not readily available from competitors.
Access to instant loans, access to the portal service without being a previous customer of the bank, and end-to-end account opening without visiting a physical bank, according to the company.
One of the bank’s competitive advantages, according to the statement, is the development of a collaborative ecosystem that allowed Application Programming Interface banking.
API banking, it was clarified, is a mechanism that makes a bank’s services accessible to other third-party companies through APIs.
It explained that “API banking helps both banks and third-party companies augment their complementary specialties and offerings beyond what they can provide to their customers on their own.”