Success goes with hard work commitment and dedication to duties

Abubakar Hashim /Monrovia Liberia

Since she resumed in the midst of COVID-19 as Managing Director, United Bank of Africa, UBA, in Liberia, on 4th February 2020, Nkechi Joyce Arizor has tremendously transformed the bank’s operational portfolio, making UBA, today, the leading bank in Liberia.

Rated as the best bank in Liberia, 2020 and 2021, under her watch, Nkechi deployed the following strategic initiatives:

Working in partnership with Liberia’s tax Authority, LRA and the Ministry of Finance, UBA was selected for a pilot programme to upgrade government employee salary-paying system from cheque based to a fully automated device, through UBA application programming. This device enabled automated payments directly into employee’s bank accounts.

The programme yielded positive results. It has greatly improved government’s payments system, bolstered timely reports for decision making and streamlines services delivery for government employees.

In collaboration with UBA, the LRA introduced to prepaid tax card in September 2020. The co-branded card, which can also be used as a Visa Card, facilitates Liberians to pay taxes on line. It can also be used for normal purchases worldwide.

UBA Liberia, under Nkechi’s watch, has also reported strong financial results, from $1.8 million audited in December 2019 to $7.3 Million audited in 2021. This result is anchored on a deposit from $85 million in December 2019 to $212.6 million to date. The result is visible with a full integration in all sectors of the Liberia economy – MDA’s, Telecoms, Oil Marketers, to mention a few.

During the thick of COVID-19, UBA Liberia provided financing for Health Ministry’s import of 20 ventilators and other health care equipment. The bank also donated $150,000 to the Liberian government to fight COVID-19. The bank was also used by the government as a collecting bank for COVID-19 testing fees at the airport and testing centers. The bank restructured loan facilities for customers directly affected by COVID, provided cash relief for major importers and also financed customers’ importation of Liberia’s staple food-rice.

– Technology plays a key role in the ongoing transformation process in UBA, Liberia.

In strong partnership with Government of Liberia, G0L, UBA has integrated on-line platform to pay staff salaries directly from office web application into their bank accounts. The bank was selected due to its leading role in digital banking space in Liberia.

Another area is automated payroll system. Previously, the Central Bank of Liberia, CBL, issue cheques in the name of MDA’s with a hard copy payroll of staff accounts to be credited. This clearing process led to delays as it is manual, with errors, due to human interventions. UBA Liberia developed an Application Programme Interface, API, via a virtual Private Network, VPN, to perform direct automated debit and credit from GOL account to employee’s accounts. In other words, whenever GOL initiated transactions, their application will make a service call to UBA core Banking Application, CBA, through Enterprise Service Bus, ESB, which debits GOL account and credits beneficiaries. Hence, an online payroll solution became effective for government of Liberia staff salary processing.

International Market, through the provision of an array of digital products and services  to meet the needs of customers. It is an on-line collection platform that allows customers to pay bills and pay for goods and services on line, anytime, anywhere in the world, making it a robust payment gateway for e-commence and e-business.

LEO, the first artificial intelligence chat box in West Africa, was first launched in Liberia in 2019, but became prominent in 2020. LEO revolutionized digital banking, by enabling customers carry out key banking transactions with use of social media accounts. LEO brings banking closer to the people, with a chat conversation with LEO, without physically visiting any branch. LEO can be used to open account, request for loans, account statement, send money, by airtime or data and pay bills.

 REDD APP is a new mobile banking application that consolidates all existing digital  products into a single platform to improve extra ordinary experience.

UBA Instant Bills Pay Solutions Platform. It is an e-commerce services platform, designed as an avenue to bring local business to the international market, through the provision of an array of digital products and services to meet the needs of the customers.

In June, 2022, UBA Liberia landed a 3 – in – 1 digital cashless and cash remittance product, in collaboration with Hammerpay ( a fintech), for remittance, push and pull transactions (Bank to Wallet or Wallet to Bank) and for purchases while using virtual cards.

It is also a cross border remittance initiative, instant and secure. Remittances messages are delivered into registered merchants for purchases or cash equivalent. The barcode is scanned on the subscriber’s digital remittance card, with the digital value instantly transferred to the Merchants’ Bank account, in line with the digital financial inclusion strategy of the central Bank of Liberia.

These development initiatives undertaken by UBA Liberia, inevitably, put the bank as the leader in financial services in Liberia today.