Ecobank Ghana has disengaged 181 outsourced staff as it continues to expand on its digital agenda which seeks to place banking in the hands of its clients.

With effect from yesterday, 4th September, 2017, the staff, including front and back office branch executives and other departments spread across the country were asked to go home.

The move will culminate in the reduction of its branches across the country from 77 to 67 to “ensure efficiency is high, and serve customers better.”

In an interview with Reverend Patricia Sappor, Head of Corporate Communications at Ecobank, Ghana and Anglophone West Africa (AWA), she explained that all permanent staff of the bank are still at work.

“We have disengaged some of our outsourced staff due to most of clients moving onto our digital platforms. We have our Masterpass QR which makes prompt payment possible, POS, ATMs, the Ecobank App and internet banking,” she said.

She added that the bank is seeing a reduction in the face to face interactions. “We are downsizing because of our digital channels.”

Branch mergers

She explained that branches that are close to each other will be merged as a result of the digital drive. “Some areas have branches just about 200 metres away from each other. It is prudent for the bank to merge.”

Digital agenda

The bank recently noted that its hope of becoming the most digitally advanced bank has chalked a major milestone with over 70 percent of its client’s transactions taking place on its digital channels instead of walking into a branch.

With the launch of its mobile banking application barely a year ago, the bank noted that the application now has close to 120,000 clients and offers several services including cross border and country transactions and purchasing Treasury Bills, which is unique to The Ecobank mobile banking application.

The recently launched Masterpas QR, in partnership with MasterCard, seeks to boost safe and secure digital payment via the mobile phone for both the banked and the unbanked.

Currently, it allows Ecobank account holders who have the Ecobank Mobile Banking App on their smartphones to make payments of up to GH¢5,000 in one transaction and up to GH¢20,000 at various sales points by just scanning the Ecobank QR at a merchant's place. Those with feature phones can access the service via *770#.

In that sense, therefore, the service enables merchants like shops, restaurants, bars, food sellers, taxi/trotro drivers among others to accept payment from mobile phones, cards etc without having to use a point of sale (POS) device.