LAGOS, NIGERIA – June 14, 2017 – Wema Bank Plc. (Bloomberg: WEMABANK: NL)

Customers should form the core of all banking products and services, according to Moruf Oseni, Executive Director of Retail & North Directorate at Wema Bank.

“Banks must become customer-centric. This is whyWema Bank created ALAT. We asked customers what they wanted and came back to design a bank that will address their needs,” Oseni said, Tuesday, during Digital Pay Expo 2017, a Fintech industry-focused event held in Lagos.

Oseni, who represented Wema Bank’s Managing Director Segun Oloketuyi noted that technology is changing the way things are done in several industries, including banking.

“The disruption in the banking industry is real. There are two ways to react to it. Its either we sit down and wait to be protected by the regulators or work with the ecosystem to build the future of banking,” Oseni said.

Wema Bank launched ALAT on May 2nd as the bank celebrated its 72 years of existence, shocking the Nigerian banking industry with an innovation unexpected of an old bank. ALAT is Nigeria’s first fully digital bank which empowers Nigerians to run a bank account online without necessarily having to visit a bank.

With ALAT, account opening/sign-up can be done in 5 minutes from a mobile phone or personal computer. Holders of the account can also enjoy a simple automated savings plan that will see them earn 10% annual interest – about three times the standard bank rate. Debit cards are delivered to an account holder’s address in two business days, anywhere in Nigeria, at no cost. Also, after activating a debit card, an account holder can lock it, unlock it and choose where it works. All these can be done from a mobile phone.

ALAT is available for download on Google’s operating system Android and Apple’s iOS.