Early this year, Stanbic Uganda Holdings, the parent company of Stanbic Bank Uganda, announced a profit of over Sh400 billion after tax. This was attributed to the bank’s innovative lending initiatives. In a bid to hold on to the success, Stanbic Bank Uganda launched a 360-degree lending initiative on Thursday, offering customer solutions and incentives in a campaign dubbed ‘Oli Sorted’. The campaign will run for 90 days. This, as children go back to school.
“As a truly customer-centric business, Stanbic Bank is driven by ensuring that customers are provided with products and solutions to suit their financial needs, whatever the circumstances. To improve peace of mind, we believe in being at the forefront of harnessing innovative ways for the greater convenience of our customers and clients. We believe that customer loyalty is strengthened through better customer banking experiences, which in turn leads to growth in deposits. During these hectic days of back-to-school, with the launch of the new Oli Sorted campaign, which is slated to run until the end of the year, we are doing this because we want to add value to customers making payments through Stanbic platforms (Flexipay, SchoolPay, and Stanbic Bank Agents),” said Israel Arinaitwe, the Head of Personal Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda.
Under personal banking, the bank has put up unsecured personal loans up to Shs 350 million at zero arrangement fees and approvals within 48 hours. This has increased from the previous figure of Shs 250 million.
Secondly, there is a home loan offer (mortgages) with 100% mortgage financing. The bank said this has increased from the previous 80%, meaning that customers can now get 100% financing for mortgages. Savings & Investment (Fixed Deposit) with up to 13% interest on all savings and a chance to enter a draw to win 500,000 shillings cash back when you get a loan.
“At Stanbic Bank, we are saying that for the next 90 days we are responding to your needs, our dear customers.” This offering is however not limited to only our customers, so we welcome every Ugandan to partake of it,” added Arinaitwe.
Under insurance, children going back to school will be treated to a free medical checkup. This is being done in partnership with Liberty Life, on the condition that they pay school fees at Metro, Kabalagala, Kyambogo, Mukono, Gulu, Arua, and Mbale branches. According to Dogo Singh, the Head of Bancassurance at Stanbic Bank Uganda, child medical insurance is a unique medical cover for school-going children. “For as little as Shs 600,000 annually, your child will be covered up to Shs 18.5 million. Your child can access medical services from 390 medical facilities across Uganda, providing peace of mind when your child is at school,” said Singh.
Under the category of BCB Insurance and School Fee Collection, there are a variety of rewards on offer for head teachers, bursars, school directors, parents and teachers, and Stanbic agents. The Cash-Back campaign has three broad brackets with rewards of insurance cover, school fees, and rent refunds for agents. For educational institutions, there are three main categories from which rewards are offered. During the campaign, 45 schools, or five monthly, are to be awarded with insurance policies numbering 90 in total. In Category One (the top tier), schools that grow from the previous cycle average monthly collections by average balances of Shs 500 million (an equivalent of at least Shs 1.8 billion in collections) will win three policies (head teacher, school director, and school bursar). In Category 2 (Middle Tier) schools that grow from the previous cycle average monthly collections by average balances of Shs 375 million (an equivalent of at least Shs 1.3 billion in collections) to win two policies. In Category 3 (lower tier) schools that grow from the previous cycle average monthly collections by average balances of Shs 250 million (an equivalent of at least Shs 900 million in collections) to win one policy. Each award is for medical insurance coverage of up to Shs 18.8 million per person, with an individual premium of Shs 1.1 million. For the bracket of parents and students, on a biweekly basis, Stanbic will reward 20 parents or students with Shs 500,000 in cash as a fee refund.
“During the course of the campaign, a total of 120 parents and students are potential beneficiaries. All they need to do is pay school fees through Stanbic platforms, specifically FlexiPay, Schoolpay, or Stanbic Agents, to be considered eligible,” said Albert Yiga, Stanbic Bank Uganda’s Head of Education Sector. He added that “we have made it easy to pay school fees through various channels such as FlexiPay, and this has been coupled with an incentive for key school administrators. They will stand a chance to get an insurance cover of up to Shs 18 million for 12 months.”
In the agents bracket, there are three categories. The top three agents per region per category on a monthly basis are eligible to win rent refunds ranging from Shs 150,000 to Shs 500,000.
In Category 1, the agent that meets a monthly 50% growth in school fee collection as compared to the monthly average of the previous cycle with a minimum of Shs 200 million wins a Shs 500,000 rent refund. In Category 2, the agent that meets a monthly 50% growth in school fee collection as compared to the monthly average of the previous cycle with a minimum of Shs 100 million wins a Shs 250,000 rent refund. In Category 3, the agent that meets a monthly 50% growth in school fee collection as compared to the monthly average of the previous cycle with a minimum of Shs 200 million wins a Shs 150,000 rent refund. A total of 162 agents will be rewarded during the campaign, said Aaron Akampa, Stanbic Bank Uganda’s Head of Enterprise Banking.
“For our SMEs, we have heard your plea to get your loans faster, and for the schools, there’s growth, hence a need for new infrastructure. Beyond just the traditional support, we have construction offerings for you,” added Akampa.
Salim Kitagenda, the Head of Products at Stanbic Bank, says that the campaign was informed by data.
“Looking at our data, our clients are looking for financial independence, and they want us to enable them to achieve that aspiration. We are here to cater to all cross-cutting needs, including 100% mortgage financing,” said Kitagenda.
According to Sylvia Atuhairwe, the Head of Distribution at Stanbic Bank Uganda, the campaign will run across the country.
“As Stanbic Bank, we are ready to serve you across the country, and this is not only limited to the branches but also our wide-spread agency banking network,” said Atuhairwe.