By Osman Kargbo
The executive director of Commerce and Mortgage Bank (CMB) has stated that CMB is out to provide customers with unique experience of bank service and products that will let them get more committed to the bank.Executive Director Velma Labor also said that her bank would work arduously and professionally to attract the non-banking population of Sierra Leone to bank with CMB as their preferred financial partner.
“Our mission is to provide our customers with a unique experience and also to entice the unbanked in choosing us as their preferred financial partner,” Mrs Labor said on Wednesday 28 Sept 2022, while speaking at a function marking the start of a partnership between CMBank and Afrimoney on money transfer and payment system using the Afrimoney wallet platform also dubbed Bank2Wallet and Wallet2Bank.
Highlighting the need for collaboration and cooperation within the banking and financial industry as promoted by the Bank of Sierra Leone, Mrs Labor said the Sierra Leone Financial Inclusion Project led by the Bank of Sierra Leone is currently working hard to launch the National Switch Project. “This will create more opportunities for interoperability within the financial ecosystem,” she said, adding: “With a clear vision, CMB is building an enduring and sustainable customer-focused financial institution using digital banking. Our mission is to provide our customers with a unique experience and also to entice the unbanked in choosing us as their preferred financial partner.”
Giving a brief background of her bank, she says: “In 2016, Commerce & Mortgage Bank (CMB) was granted a commercial banking license which positioned the bank to better compete in the financial ecosystem. The name was changed from HFC Mortgage and Savings (Mr Mortgage) to its current name.
“The Bank then took a path of transitioning from a Mortgage and deposit-taking institution to a commercial Bank. Whilst on that journey, we were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and we were awakened to the realization that interoperability is very important for financial transactions. As a result, CMB embarked on a digital transformation journey with the objective of becoming the best digital bank in Sierra Leone. It is in line with this very objective which is why we are here today partnering with Africell and specifically Afrimoney.”
The CMB executive director says the need for interoperability in ensuring a cashless economy cannot be over-emphasised. “It is against this backdrop we collaborated with Afrimoney to provide our customers with the popular demand for a Bank2Wallet and Wallet2Bank seamless money transfer and payment system using the Afrimoney wallet platform.”
CMB’s customers can access this service from their Mobile App, Internet Banking platform and also Africell’s USSD platform, Mrs Labor said, adding that “it is a service that is available to both our retail and corporate customers”.
She also stated that “CMB wishes to warm its way” into the hearts of their customers and the unbanked with a campaign message that speaks for itself, in this fashion: “At CMB we are all about using innovative product advancements and digital technology to create a better banking experience.”
By the end of the year, she noted, CMB would boast of being an “innovative financial institution that offers customized digital” banking business solutions.
“Such innovations will answer the current personal and corporate needs of our customers and also steer them into the future of their financial and business growth,” she said, adding: “We encourage all NGOs, Corporate businesses (large, medium, or small), individuals, and the unbanked to establish a relationship with us and make CMB your preferred Bank.
“Banking is no longer brick-and-mortar but more of using a seamless technology in which customers can access products and services in the comfort of their space.”
She said the launch of the partnership between CMB and Afrimoney had broadened the digital payment landscape at CMB with solutions for salaries and several bill payment collections.
Hence, she encourages all and sundry to bank and do business with CMB, saying the bank is out to change lives and make banking a better and gainful place to be for all.
