Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers drives services at grassroots with mobile office

Chuks Udo Okonta

Existing and prospective customers of Pension Fund Administrations (PFAs) will now enjoy more convenience as Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, deploys an innovative mobile office, the first of its kind in the pension industry in Nigeria.

At the formal unveiling of the Stanbic IBTC Pension mobile office in Lagos,, the leading Pension Fund Administrator, said the move is in line with its commitment to ensure that clients are able to experience excellent and convenient service at all times.

The mobile office, sited on a bus, has been deployed in Lagos and will be subsequently deployed in other cities, and will enhance access to customers. Head of Service, Lagos State Civil Service Commission, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe, represented by Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, Executive Director, Technical, Lagos State Pension Commission, performed the unveiling ceremony.

Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Dr. Demola Sogunle, said the growing visibility will demystify the pensions subject and encourage more Nigerians to subscribe to the contributory pension scheme, thereby enhancing financial inclusion.

“We believe that this initiative which speaks of convenience and accessibility is one of our key steps towards building a legacy of exceptional service delivery where the customer is the focal point of all our activities. This initiative will bring pension service to the doorsteps of our customers and prospective customers alike.”

Sogunle said plans are currently being finalised to deploy more mobile offices in various cities across the country. The new service window will complement the group’s expanding footprint in Nigeria by adding to the almost 200 branches of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ nine regional offices, as well as selected branches of Zenith Bank where the PFA operates. Other access points include the internet, telephone, email and SMS. Sogunle said it was to enhance rapport and uninterrupted interface with its customers that Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers launched its 24-hour, multilingual call centre that comes in the three major Nigerian languages namely Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa as well as Pidgin English. Customers who call into this call centre, he said, have the option of being attended to in their preferred language.

As a member of the 150 year-old Standard Bank Group, Sogunle emphasised that Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is backed by the requisite expertise and experience, strong and sound financial clout, ensuring efficiency in the management and safety of clients’ retirement savings. “We believe that the support, experience and capabilities of the Standard Bank Group to which we belong, have been instrumental in enhancing our expertise, resource base and general service delivery, thus reinforcing our goal of providing excellent service to all our customers,” he stated.

In its eight years of existence, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers has emerged Nigeria’s biggest pension fund administrator with over one million retirement savings account holders and pays about N1.7 billion to over 28,000 retirees monthly. To date, approximately N178 billion has been paid to retirees since commencement of operations in 2005.

“Our aim is to continue to set higher standards of service delivery and ensure that our retirement savings account holders derive maximum value from their pension savings. We believe that the addition of the mobile office to our line-up of convenient service channels, will further avail our esteemed customers and potential customers the opportunity to have access to quality pension fund administration information and services, which will in turn enable them retire well,” Sogunle concluded.

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, a member of Standard Bank Group, a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets and earnings. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 18 countries on the African continent, including South Africa. Standard Bank has been in operation for over 150 years and is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground banks in chosen countries in Africa and connecting other selected emerging markets to Africa and to each other, applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, globally.