In this new era of technology where the whole world is venturing in virtual operations, Bank of Kigali has not been left behind. The Bank has unveiled a range of digital products with full ingredients to satisfy all its customers, and this has even earned it a couple of awards in a row. The most ,notable one is the 2021 Best Bank award by Global Finance due to its ability to support the country’s economic recovery. According to the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer, Désiré Rumanyika, this award is a vote of confidence that the bank is on the right track to support the economy. “This gives us an opportunity to raise more funds, because it tells our partners that we are having a good standing in the market and proves our performance, but also it facilitates us in other aspects such as liquidity,” he commented. Digging dipper in the bank’s digital products offering, The New Times approached Désiré Rumanyika, Bank of Kigali’s Chief Operating Officer to share more insights on how the latter operate. BK Cards for all, even non-BK customers Bank of Kigali offers various cards including Debit, Prepaid and Credit cards. These cards facilitate customers to get access to cash through ATM, Point of Sales and E-Commerce anywhere in the world. The bank’s Visa Prepaid Card allows better payments management. To acquire this card, one does not need to be a BK customer as he’s only required to load money on the card to be able to transact anytime, anywhere. The Bank also offers a variety of Visa and Mastercard Credit cards that are designed to facilitate customers to transact even when they don’t have money in their running account. With a credit card, customers are given a credit card limit that they can utilize. POS services Point of Sales were introduced in 2012 and since that time, BK has seen a quite good trend of sales. Bank of Kigali POS accept Visa International, Mastercard, China Union Pay and Diners Club cards. Rumanyika says that since Covid-19 outbreak, the uptake of digital transactions has significantly scaled up. And to encourage more, the bank is alleviating its systems to make sure customers are more supported for any technical assistance. Furthermore, BK is doing more to sensitize people to leave their traditional ways of payment by availing a 24/7 Call Center, reachable on 4455 to deliver instant support for those using digital services and any other required support from the bank. E-Commerce Services E-commerce is used by everyone who has a valid card across the world through merchants enabled for the service after completing all requirements such as a hosted website or mobile application, business bank account, a registered business under Rwanda Development Board among others. With our E-commerce, merchants are empowered with the convenience of collecting payments for their goods and services sold online with global reach, as a result generate more sales, testifies Rumanyika. Agency Banking Having started in 2013, this is a model bank service adopted by the bank to allow its customers access different banking services in their proximities without necessarily visiting the branch. In the last 8 years of existence, the service has grown into an extensive network of 2,300 agents who electronically deliver different services to BK customers. Bank of Kigali’s Agency Banking offers different services including cash deposit, cash withdrawal, bills payment (electricity, Irembo services, TV subscription services, airtime top-up, etc), funds transfers, etc. In terms of security of the transactions, adds Rumanyika, the institution uses an IT platform which instantly tracks all agency banking transactions instantly. A call to digitization Bank of Kigali’s Chief Operating Officer invited everyone to shift from the traditional ways of payment by embracing digital products and services as they provide convenience, security and value for money. “Our digital products and services provide convenience. The tariff is also available, as all digital transactions are cheaper than physical services,” said Rumanyika, adding that those are benefits for BK customers. “Additionally, the use of digital payment services contributes to the reduction of queues in branches and improves the service delivery to all our customers,” said Rumanyika. The move to digitalization comes after the country started an ambitious plan to scale up the cashless economy in all the financial sectors.
