By Grace Kehinde
In a gesture of solidarity for its customers, Sterling Bank, a leading Nigerian commercial
bank and Africa’s Most Agile Company, has decided to waive all personal account
transaction fees. Abubakar Suleiman, the bank’s CEO, made the announcement in an
email to customers.
The message in the mail to Sterling’s clients read, “We at Sterling recognise the difficult
circumstances many of our customers are going through. In light of this, from February
6, 2023, through February 18, 2023, our fund transfer services will be provided free of
charge to all personal account customers. In addition, we are glad to inform you that
we will provide free Debit Cards to all interested customers. This will provide you with a convenient and secure way to make purchases and carry out transactions.
This is viewed as part of Sterling Bank’s continued efforts to support her customers and the general public as Nigeria adjusts to the availability of the new Naira notes that are
now being distributed across the country.
According to Sterling’s Chief Marketing Officer Dante Martins, who addressed the press
about the move, this is the first initiative of its sort on the part of any Commercial Bank
in Nigeria.
“We believe that by eliminating transaction costs for this period, we can assist our
customers make their banking experience more easy by making the most of our
powerful digital solutions,” Martins said.
The chief marketing officer went on, “We understand that our consumers need choices
when it comes to their everyday requirements, and we want to make sure that we can
serve them as best as we can during this time.” We believe that removing transaction
fees would allow our customers more time to focus on what’s truly important to them,
while still giving them access to the same high-quality, convenient services they’ve
come to expect from Sterling.
In response, the bank has received mostly positive comments on social media from
message recipients. This upbeat response comes after the public’s overwhelmingly
enthusiastic reaction to a viral video showing bank employees in many branches
passing out bottles of water to customers waiting in line at ATMs and banking halls.
