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Chuks Udo Okonta
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Nigeria’s largest pension fund administrator (PFA), says customers’ support was instrumental for winning the Africa Pension Awards’ ICT Innovation Operator award for 2016.
The award, presented at the recently held World Pension Summit in Abuja, was in recognition of efficient deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for excellent customer service delivery, according to the awards organisers.
“We are very pleased to have been recognized as the most innovative pension administrator in Africa. It is indeed a prestigious award made possible by our dedicated customers. Our customers constantly challenge us through their support and positive feedback allowing us to push the bar in innovative service to ensure they get full benefit of partnering with us,” Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Eric Fajemisin, said.
The Africa Pension Awards (APA), which was instituted in 2015 as a platform for African countries to yearly benchmark progress in the pension industry on the continent, recognizes excellence and achievements, the aim being to stimulate innovative practices in pension administration.
This year’s awards focused on five key areas: Innovation in Corporate Governance; Deployment of Innovative Practices to Facilitate Wide Coverage and Inclusion; Socio-Economic Impact of the Pension or Social Security System; Innovation in Risk Management; and Innovations on Information, Communication and Technology Platforms for Improved Customer Service Delivery.
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited was adjudged to have made the best use of ICT to deliver excellent customer service via its SMS Shortcode, Multilingual Contact Centre, Retirement Savings Account on Automated Teller Machines (ATM), and its mobile offices.
According to Fajemisin, as the leading PFA in the country, innovation has been at the heart of the company’s strategy to build better relationships with customers, deliver improved and convenient services that will ensure retirement savings account holders have peace of mind. The PFA listed some of the innovative services introduced for convenience, accessibility, quality, and efficiency to include its 24-hour multilingual contact centre, SMS, Stanbic IBTC ATMs, email, its mobile office, mobile app, and the Pension Guru online, among others.
“In our 12 years of existence, we have emerged Nigeria’s leading PFA with over one million retirement savings account holders and assets under management in excess of N1 trillion, paying more than N2.1 billion to over 37,000 retirees monthly. Over N200 billion has been paid to retirees since we commenced operations in 2005. Our aim is to continue to set higher standards of service delivery and ensure that our retirement savings account holders derive maximum value from their contributions,” Fajemisin said.
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Stanbic IBTC belongs to the Standard Bank Group, the largest African financial institution by assets and earnings. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent. Standard Bank has been in operation for 153 years and is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground financial services institutions in chosen countries in Africa; and connecting selected emerging markets to Africa by applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, power and infrastructure.
