Monrovia Liberia June 22, 2017 – United Bank for Africa (UBA) today launched the Debit MasterCard in Liberia.
Focused on replacing a dependence on cash, the electronic payment solution will deliver a quick, convenient and secure payment alternative for all citizens – instantly.
In line with its strategic vision, UBA is introducing innovative payment solutions that meet the needs of people across Africa.
The Debit Mastercard card gives the cardholder full control of their funds and provides them with the ability to access funds directly from a savings or current account, thereby reflecting all transactions in real time.
The launch which brought together scores of guests including customers, representative of the Central Bank and various executives of UBA, took place at the Cape Hotel in Liberia.
Making remarks on behalf of the Governor of the Central bank of Liberia, Erica Williams said ‘the Central Bank sees the launch of MasterCard as a stepping stone towards the building of a sustainable and vibrant financial sector’.
According to her, the Central Bank remains committed to its task of ensuring that financial services add value to the modernization of the financial system and was glad UBA is taking the lead.
Leading the team of bankers at the launch, UBA Liberia MD/CEO Lekan Balogun urged Liberians to visit any UBA branch across the country to request for the card, and cardholders don’t have to wait days or weeks to receive the card as they can instantly be signed up and begin to use the debit card immediately.
“The launch of MasterCard is one of our strategic objectives to push financial inclusion in Liberia and we believe that with this product we will be more effective in the retail banking space’’ said Balogun.
The quick go-to-market strategy is ensuring that more people are connected to the formal financial sector, giving them the power to pay for goods and services in-store or online wherever Mastercard is accepted. The debit card can also be used at any ATM locally, and at millions of ATM locations worldwide.
The MasterCard has strong enhanced security features with a chip embedded which contains information that is encrypted, making it almost impossible for the card to be copied or counterfeited. The chip card will also have a magnetic stripe on the back, so that cardholders can continue using their cards while merchants are transitioning to new chip-enabled terminals.
Cardholders will also be able to select their own PIN, giving them full control to approve transactions at the point of sale or when withdrawing cash from ATMs.
Instructively, United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading pan-African financial services group, with presence in 19 African countries, as well as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and France.
UBA was incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company after taking over the assets of the British and French Bank Limited who had been operating in Nigeria since 1949. The United Bank for Africa merged with Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and from a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria – Africa’s largest economy – UBA has become one of the leading providers of banking and other financial services on the African continent. The Bank provides services to over14 million customers globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 1,000 branches and customer touch points and robust online and mobile banking platforms.
UBA was the first Nigerian bank to make an Initial Public Offering, following its listing on the NSE in1970. It was also the first Nigerian bank to issue Global Depository Receipts.
The shares of UBA are publicly traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Bank has a well-diversified shareholder base, which includes foreign and local institutional investors, as well as individual shareholders.
While MasterCard, is a technology company in the global payments industry.
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