Fidelity Bank Plc, in conjunction with SystemSpecs, owners of Remita, has launched a more convenient collection and remittance of federal government’s revenues through its unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) channel *770#.
The bank’s divisional head in charge of retail banking, Mr. Richard Madiebo said in a statement that the payment solution is the first of its kind in the collection of IGR.
Madiebo who described the innovation as “groundbreaking” said the payment platform was conceived in response to some of the challenges faced by millions of customers when making their tax payments and remittance and the need for all the tiers of government to provide convenient sources of revenue collection.
He further stated that the platform was developed with the average tax payer in mind.
“This payment option is borne largely from our desire to always provide easy and convenient payment channels to the semi-formal and informal tax markets in Nigeria. Tax payers can now make payment efficiently, thus leading to reduction of leakages in the system for both the state and federal government,” he added.
He explained that customers would simply dial 770# on the phone linked to their accounts and then use their unique Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) generated from the Remita platform to make payments using the USSD code *770*RRR# and conclude their transactions.
Also, the executive director of SystemSpecs, Mr. Deremi Atanda said the company would always partner with formidable institutions to simplify payment processes.
“Our operating model has always been to collaborate with forward-looking partners in the financial ecosystem, so that customers are able to consistently make smooth and convenient payments across diverse channels.”
“Partnering with an institution like Fidelity Bank to ensure customers are able to make treasury single account (TSA) and other payments on their innovative USSD platform is in furtherance of our corporate ideals and the bank’s quest for the delivery of easy and convenient banking services”, said Atanda.
Fidelity is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 3.8 million customers who are serviced across its 240 offices and various digital banking channels.
The Bank is focused on select niche corporate banking sectors, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and is rapidly implementing a digital-based retail banking strategy which has resulted in a 93 per cent growth in savings deposits, 50 percent customer enrollment on debit cards and 30 percent of its customers now using its flagship mobile/internet banking products.