9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), Nigeria’s leading digital payment service bank dedicated to advancing financial inclusion, celebrated the 2024 Customer Service Week, themed: “Above and Beyond.”

The celebration featured recognition of top performing Service Location Partners, an informative webinar for staff and partners, alongside cultural activities that underscored the bank’s dedication to exceptional customer service.

The week-long celebration, which took place from October 7th to 11th, united organizations worldwide to recognize the essential role of customers and partners in driving business success.

At the closing ceremony held at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Branka Mracajac highlighted the significance of this year’s theme, which aligns with 9PSB’s mission to provide outstanding banking services.

“We are proud to join organizations around the world in expressing our heartfelt gratitude to our customers and Service Location Partners for their steadfast support and loyalty,” Mracajac stated.

“Our commitment to going ‘above and beyond’ is reflected in our innovative and tailored banking solutions. Our customer experience team is dedicated to ensuring that every interaction is positive and fulfilling.

Mracajac further remarked, “Today, we honour our customers and recognize our exceptional partners whose contributions have been integral to our success. Your efforts are invaluable, and we remain committed to delivering quality and outstanding service as we collectively strive to bridge the financial inclusion gap through our mission to Bank9ja.’”

Citi and Mastercard have announced a collaboration to offer cross-border payments to Mastercard debit cards in 14 receiving markets worldwide, with plans for further expansion.

Leveraging Citi’s WorldLink Payment Services and Mastercard Move’s money transfer capabilities, Citi clients can make near-instant, full-value payments, with near 24/7 availability to consumers using their Mastercard debit card details.

Citi is the first global bank to enable cross-border payments to Mastercard debit cards using Mastercard Move, tapping into the speed, security and transparency of the Mastercard network.

The integrated solution is available to Citi clients across 65 origination countries in the corporate, financial institution, e-commerce and commercial sectors, and helps make cross-border payments simpler, faster, more efficient and more accessible.

The solution supports an array of use cases, including insurance payouts, airline refunds and compensation payments, on-demand payments to freelance and gig-economy workers, e-commerce payments to merchants and refunds to customers.

This innovative solution deepens Citi’s collaboration with Mastercard by enabling enhanced money movement capabilities and access for Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) clients.

“As the global economy has become increasingly digital, our continued investment in the future of cross-border payments helps us drive innovation at scale for our clients.

This collaboration builds on our longstanding relationship with Mastercard and leverages the strength of our global proprietary network combined with other leading digital wallet and card capabilities to enable our clients to make cross-border payments as though there are no borders, no currencies, no constraints.

” Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Citi Services. Mastercard is one of the largest payment networks, with over 3.4 billion debit, prepaid and credit cards issued globally as of Q2 2024. Mastercard’s worldwide presence will help extend Citi’s reach globally.

“Cross-border payments are a key area of growth for Mastercard, and we are constantly innovating to provide payment solutions that better cater to the needs of our global customers.

By powering fast and secure cross-border transfers to Mastercard debit cards, our collaboration with Citi marks a significant milestone in bringing the ease and simplicity of domestic payments to the cross-border payment space.”

Alan Marquard, Head of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard. This collaboration expands Citi’s payout offering, with payment destinations spanning across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America as well as U.S. domestic transfers.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged banks in the country to make significant investments in cybersecurity to safeguard depositors’ savings from hackers.

Dr. Adetona Adedeji, acting director of Banking Supervision, made this call during a panel discussion on “Fiscal and Monetary Policy Reforms: Removing Barriers to Private Sector Investment” at the ongoing Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja.

He acknowledged the rapid innovations within the banking sector, particularly concerning electronic banking, and emphasized the need for banks to stay one step ahead of criminals to prevent customers from losing their deposits.

“There has been a lot of innovation in the banking sector today, especially in e-channels,” Dr. Adedeji stated. “Therefore, we require a robust risk management system. We expect every bank to implement a very strong cybersecurity framework.”

He continued, “We want customers to be protected from criminals. These are individuals we have been working hard to convince to deposit their money instead of keeping it under their pillows. We don’t want a situation where, after successfully encouraging them to bank their funds under financial inclusion initiatives, hackers exploit vulnerabilities and steal their money.”

Dr. Adedeji reiterated the importance of establishing secure systems, saying, “We want banks to develop a very robust cybersecurity system that guarantees the safety of customers’ money, allowing them to deposit their funds today, sleep peacefully, and wake up tomorrow to find their money intact.”

Regarding the CBN’s efforts to combat inflation, he noted that while the bank aims to reduce inflation, it remains mindful of the need to keep businesses operational.

“We are focused on targeting inflation through interest rate increases, but we understand the impact this has on businesses,” he explained. “We don’t want to reach a state of hyperinflation. We simply ask for understanding; all the policies the CBN has introduced aim to help mitigate inflation.”

Dr. Adedeji added, “Our current priority is price stability, but we are aware that businesses must continue to function.”

On the foreign exchange policy being implemented by the CBN, he remarked, “Rent seekers are facing challenges, as we strive to achieve equilibrium.” He also highlighted ongoing collaboration with fiscal authorities to address the correlation between FAAC (Federation Accounts Allocation Committee) releases and liquidity at the state level, as well as the unusual demand for foreign exchange that arises each time FAAC distributes monthly revenues to the three tiers of government.