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Uganda: Equity Bank Uganda Opens 1,200 Accounts Daily
July 20, 2009

Kampala, July 20, 2009 (East African Business Week) — Equity Bank Uganda registers an average of 1,200 new accounts a day, its MD, Mr. Charles Nalyaali, told East African Business Week in an exclusive interview.

Mr. Nalyaali said the phenomenal growth in the last eight months since the bank opened operations in Uganda is due to their customer-centric innovations, simple steps in account opening and flexible loan product ranges that grow the customer and a humane management style.

"This increase is by about 50% compared to six months ago when we started and we averaged at 800 accounts opened daily," Nalyaali revealed.

This means the bank has taken on new customers in the range of 150,000 and 230,000. This is on top of the customers it inherited from Uganda Microfinance Ltd (UML).

Some of the reasons that explain the phenomenal jump in the history of banking in Uganda after Equity Bank took over Uganda Microfinance Ltd (UML) is that account opening is free and all the customer has to do is present themselves with an identification.

"We are not like these banks where you are asked to come with four passport photos and fill a heap of forms. Our fill-in forms are simplified and what we ask the customer is to present themselves with a document to certify that they are the ones. We take the customer's passport photos using our digital cameras and they fill the simple form. Data is fed in our state-of-the-art systems and you are on," he explained.

"We also pay interest on customer savings deposits. But more fundamentally is that we make banking easier. For example, we understand that some of the customers we serve are semi-literate so we ask them to come to our counters and we debt their cards or credit them for them," Nalyaali said.

He added that the other strength they have over all other banks is that they go to where the so-called poorest of the poor are and serve them.

"You will find us at street corners and inside or beside markets. We go where the real people are. We are the only bank whose headquarters are not on the high street. Our head office is in Katwe where the lowly of Kampala city are. We want to make it possible for everyone to bank with us," Nalyaali revealed.

He said that one of the other fundamental issues they tackled was to reach out to those without accounts and offer them a tailor made banking experience.

"You can talk about tailor made banking but what you are doing is quite different. For example, we started the Rushere and Rukungiri branches in Western Uganda out of a need expressed and found in the area. In Rushere, we realized that the milk producers needed a safe place to keep their money so that when a need to buy animal drugs arises their money is availed. We offered a solution as a keeper of their money. With time, people demanded full fledged banking services which we offered," Nalyaali said.

Equity Bank is also riding on the strength of being cross-listed on the Uganda stock exchange and it is the only cross-listed stock trading in local currency without being subjected to the prevailing exchange rate of the Kenya shilling.

It is also one of the stocks that rose tremendously within weeks of listing.

Just a month ago, the share price has risen from UShs380 on the day of listing and stabilized at UShs420.

"We encourage our customers to also be shareholders in the bank through the stock exchange. We have outreach initiatives where we educate our customers and potential customers the fundamentals of doing business and being people. And the dividends are reflected in the number of customers the bank has taken on," he stressed.

"Interestingly, a number of them are crossovers yet we do not advertise. Most of our customers are referrals. Other customers tell them about us. We also do not ask for referees. We are interested in the individual you. How are you going to know who else banks with us when we are a new bank?" Nalyaali reasoned.

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