By Chidubem Anthony
Determined to boost the everyday needs and lifestyles of users beyond a limited bouquet of regular banking products, Africa’s leading financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, has unveiled Habari – Nigeria’s largest platform for music, shopping, lifestyle content and more.
A seamless shopping experience and an exciting way to connect with friends, among other features, Habari is the first such mobile platform in Nigeria created by a financial institution with direct access to the largest catalogue of local and foreign online music.
It also offers an end-to-end shopping experience that allows users to buy goods and services directly from over 10,000 small businesses, just as they can also use their phones to find and connect with friends, split bills, transfer and receive funds as well as pay for utilities, subscriptions and other services.
The application is open and free to download and does not require mobile banking details and offers a wide range of services, all of which are accessible to anyone, regardless of bank choice, the GTB Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Segun Agbaje, explained.
It is also very simple to use and is designed with a clean user-interface,as well as a seamless navigation experience that ensures everything – from the music to listen to, to the bills to pay – with just two clicks away.
Also available on Habari includes the nation’s largest catalogue of local and foreign music, carefully curated videos ranging from short engaging self-help kits to captivating full-length movies, as well as books that cut across all literary genres.
Explaining the bank’s motivation with the app, Agbaje said that “by re-imagining the role of banking and driving innovation in how we serve customers, we have built a platform that is less about us as bank and more about our customers and everything they need to enable their lifestyle.”
According to him, “Habari is not a mobile banking application, it is the start of our journey towards building a platform that connects our customers to everything that they need, and which continues to evolve with their lifestyle.
“We are excited about this journey and are confident that our customers will see in Habari a simple, smart and exciting digital experience that adds value to their lives, every day.”
GTBank maintains a brand seen by industry watchers as among the best-run financial institutions across its subsidiary countries, as a role model within the financial services industry with its bias for world class corporate governance standards, excellent service, quality and innovation.