Ecoselect is a current account designed to help customers save transaction cost and earn good returns on their account balances. Funmi Ajayi, the bank’s head of retail products liabilities said the idea of Ecoselect was conceived following the need to make special provision for High net worth individuals, high income professionals, traders and corporate organizations.

According to her, Ecoselect offers unique benefits which put it ahead of other competing products in the banking industry, enabling the bank to offer its esteemed customers convenience and flexibility in their business transactions. Other benefits of the Ecoselect account, she said, include; non restriction on number of withdrawals per month, free customized cheque book on account, free debit cards for ease and convenience, access to internet and SMS Banking, comprehensive Quarterly Statements and an automatic qualification for the Ecobank Naira Credit Card.

Savings Product

The savings product called Ecoflexi is a unique savings product with the additional benefit of a third party cheque withdrawal. Commenting on the introduction of Ecoflexi, the bank’s Regional Coordinator, the South West, Tony Okpanachi said the product which is an improvement on other competing products in the banking industry has been designed to offer the bank’s esteemed customers convenience and flexibility in their business transactions.

Some of the benefits of the account, he explained, include: third party lodgments and withdrawals, free ATM Debit for ease and convenience, access to sms/Internet banking at minimal cost, Access to customized cheque book amongst other benefits.

The Regional Co-coordinator maintained that Ecoflexi is meant to cut across diverse market segments especially traders, electronics dealers, spare parts dealers, artisans and petty traders and students including Market associations.

Naira credit card

A Naira Credit Card is the most convenient and quickest access to consumer finance in the country; without which no economy can grow. Wale Kasali, Country Head, Transaction Bank of Ecobank Nigeria who spoke on why Ecobank pioneered naira credit, noted that Nigeria is on the threshold of becoming an economy to reckon with in the area of consumer finance, hence one can never make the "big jump" without credit facility like what the credit card offers; it is currently the quickest access to credit, especially as ‘stop gaps’ for small business people".

On the success of the credit card, Kasali said since it was launched by the bank, the excitement generated by the card has surpassed the bank’s expectations. He however, advised Nigerians to note that the card is meant for all segments of the Nigerian society as far as the individual is ascertained to be credit worthy in its minimum credit risk assessment criteria.

According to Kasali, citizens cutting across all classes and without necessarily being customers of the bank can access the credit card facility by picking up forms from any of the bank’s over 200 locations across the country.

The Ecobank Naira Credit Card is designed to give impetus to Nigeria’s drive for a cashless society, including availing the consumer, enhancement initiative, as it is obtainable in other parts of the globe. The card offers a zero interest free period on utilized amount for up to initial 40 days, and the credit limit for employed applicants is 20 percent of their annual income, while the maximum credit limit for non-salaried self employed applicants will be 10 percent of their annual turnover.

The credit card is issued in ranges of: Classic, Premium, Gold and Platinum categories with the Platinum having the highest limit of N5 million.

Rapid Transfer Product

Rapid Transfer product is a money transfer product which facilitates access to funds for customers and non-customers of the bank, after an initial three months successful pilot.

This product, the first of its kind in Nigeria, is particularly meant for businessmen and women involved in regional export and import businesses, particularly in the Retail market. The product is designed to save the customers from the risk of carrying Naira/CFA across the borders as well as the patronage of unauthorized foreign exchange dealers.

Ecobank also received a letter of Commendation on the Rapid Transfer product which was signed by the Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank based upon Ecobank’s success at formalizing all informal trade transactions within the Ecowas sub-region. In the words of the apex bank "we congratulate you for the initiative you have taken to introduce the ‘Rapid Transfer Product’. This will go a long way in wooing individuals and companies doing business through informal to informal ways with the attendant benefits to the economy".

The Ecobank Rapid Transfer product, novel in every respect, derives from the rising increase in cross-border trade, thus emphasizing the need for a reliable means of transaction settlement across the region.

was local currencies for the settlement of intra-regional trade transactions thereby easing the burden on the nation’s scarce foreign exchange.

True to its record on compliance, Ecobank will ensure that the exchange regulations of the various monetary zones are respected and that the Know Your Customers (KYC) principle is strictly adhered to in order to hedge against money laundering.

According to him, transactions will be negotiated in the local currencies of the various countries within the Ecobank affiliates currently in 20 countries in West, Central and Eastern Africa . These countries where ECOBANK subsidiaries are currently located include : Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Equitorial Guinea, Liberia, Principe and Sao Tome, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and recently Burundi.Kasali enumerated the benefits of the product to include: a uniform cross-currency rate that will be applied daily across the Ecobank group as both buying & selling rates will be determined by Ecobank Nigeria Treasurer and will be competitive with the parallel market. A customer has the benefit of three transactions per week, in conformity with the average business cycle of a cross-border trader; and each transaction will be subject to a limit of an equivalent of USD10, 000; and documentation required is an acceptable identification on the part of the customer.