FirstBank Opens 24-hour Digital Banking Centre At UniAbuja

FirstBank of Nigeria has opened a 24-hour Digital Xperience Centre (DXC) at the University of Abuja, enabling students and other members of the university community to access banking services outside conventional banking hours.

The centre, which was commissioned on Tuesday, is equipped with self-service facilities for cash and cheque deposits, withdrawals, account maintenance, card requests and other banking transactions.

Speaking at the commissioning, the managing director and chief executive officer of FirstBank, Olusegun Alebiosu, said the facility was designed to bring digital banking services closer to customers and enable them to transact at any time.

He said customers could use the centre to change their registered phone numbers and email addresses, obtain account statements, request ATM cards and carry out other transactions without visiting a conventional banking hall.

According to him, the bank’s target is to bring members of the university community onto its digital platform and provide them with uninterrupted access to banking services.

Alebiosu said the facility would operate throughout the year, including weekends and public holidays, adding that customers would not have to depend on regular banking hours to access their money.

He said the centre would also serve residents of neighbouring communities, including an estimated population of 40,000 people, with bank staff available to attend to customer complaints and other service-related issues.

On concerns about cybercrime and the security of digital transactions, the FirstBank chief executive said the facility had biometric verification measures, including fingerprint and facial recognition, as well as one-time passwords sent to customers’ registered phone numbers.

He said the measures were designed to prevent unauthorised access to customers’ accounts and protect their personal information.

Alebiosu added that FirstBank was expanding the digital banking model to other university campuses across the country.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, said the centre would make banking services more accessible to students and other members of the university community.

Fawehinmi said the facility would provide students with access to essential banking services on campus, adding that it would improve their experience and strengthen the relationship between the university and the bank.

He, however, identified possible security challenges and vandalism as concerns associated with the facility.

The vice-chancellor said the university and FirstBank had put measures in place, including 24-hour security surveillance, to protect the investment.