At the United Bank for Africa (UBA), however, this commitment has been thoroughly tested, measured, and transformed into a real competitive edge.

This transformation, which is being championed from the highest level, is driven by a leadership conviction that exceptional service is the definitive currency in modern-day banking.

Like Oliver Alawuba, the group managing director/chief executive officer, will always quip, this is a deliberate strategy.

“In today’s competitive landscape, service is the key differentiator. Our vision is to transform every customer interaction, including the most challenging ones, into an opportunity to exceed expectations. This requires a fundamental ‘Can-Do’ mind-set that permeates the entire Group,” he says.

UBA’s dedicated Customer Experience Unit is one of the key drivers of the group’s vision of transforming customers’ requests and interactions into exceeded expectations.

Acting as the operational engine for the bank’s ‘Customer 1st’ (C1st) philosophy, the unit as with other organs of the bank is laden with a mandate to embed the principles of integrity, efficiency, empathy, and personalisation across the entire institution.

Michelle Nwoga, UBA’s group head, Customer Experience, said the ‘Can-Do’ culture remains the driving force behind the bank’s C1st philosophy. 

 “A philosophy remains merely an idea without the will to execute. Our ‘Can-Do’ culture provides that will. To us, it is about empowering every staff member with the authority and attitude to find solutions, own problems until resolution, and consistently go the extra mile.”

According to her, cultivating this culture requires a deliberate strategy to recognise and reinforce excellence which is achieved this through several initiatives such as recognising staff who go above and beyond to exceed customer-expectation. 

 “Recognition is a powerful driver and catalyst. By highlighting an employee who stayed late to assist an elderly customer, we simultaneously reward that ‘Can-Do’ attitude and provide a tangible example for others on what exceptional service entails,” she explained.

 This focus on culture and recognition is positioning UBA as an employer of choice within the financial sector.

The bank operates on a fundamental truth that transforming the customer experience is impossible without first empowering employees.

By fostering a ‘Can-Do’ environment that celebrates initiative and provides tools for success, including dedicated knowledge-sharing sessions, UBA invests directly in its people.

This investment creates a virtuous cycle of engaging and empowering staff who are naturally inclined to deliver exceptional service, thereby transforming routine interactions into memorable experiences. Consequently, the bank’s internal culture serves as the most critical infrastructure for its customer service strategy.

 The seamless implementation by all the departments working in tandem, brings the ‘Customer 1st’ philosophy to life. For instance, a retail customer in Kano with a card issue can have it resolved in a single call, just as a business owner in Abuja facing payroll challenges can receive immediate, effective guidance.

This relentless focus on prompt and efficient resolution directly translates the bank’s commitment into tangible benefits for its customers.

This institution-wide commitment to delivering a superior customer experience is yielding significant results.

UBA’s strategic focus is reflected in its notable ascent in the 2024 KPMG West Africa Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey, where it ranked among the top five banks, claiming second place in SME Banking and third in Retail Banking.

Further validation came with four awards at the 2025 Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Service Ambassador Awards, including the esteemed Platinum Service Ambassador Award.

As the world marks Customer Service Week, UBA’s celebration reaffirms this proven model. The accolades are milestones, not a final destination and guided by a steadfast customer-first philosophy, the bank continues to build a legacy of reliability and innovation, one customer interaction at a time.

This journey is already progressing.

“The next frontier is predictive service,” noted Alawuba. “We are investing in Artificial Intelligence to anticipate customer needs before they even make contact, evolving our ‘Can-Do’ culture from a reactive to a proactive force”.

The prestigious awards, recognises financial institutions driving impactful support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria, and UBA emerge as  top performer, coming tops in the following categories: DBM with the Highest Impact on MSMEs in Nigeria;  DBM with the Highest Impact on Women MSMEs; PFI with the Highest Impact in the North-Central Zone; and the Prestigious Platinum Service Ambassador Award, the highest award of the night.

These accolades underscore UBA’s unwavering commitment to empowering businesses, advancing financial inclusion, and supporting women entrepreneurs and underserved communities across Nigeria.

UBA’s recognition at the awards further solidifies its position as leading force in Nigeria’s financial sector, reinforcing its mission to empower small and medium enterprises and businesses and communities through innovative banking solutions.

Mr. Muyiwa Akinyemi, UBA’s deputy managing director, who received the Platinum Service Ambassador Award on behalf of the bank, expressed his delight, stating;

“We are deeply honoured to be recognised by the Development Bank of Nigeria for our efforts in driving sustainable growth and empowerment for MSMEs, particularly women-led businesses and enterprises in Nigeria.

These awards are a testament to our strategic focus on providing accessible financing, capacity building, and innovative solutions that enable small businesses to thrive. We remain committed to fostering economic resilience and prosperity across Nigeria,” Muyiwa said.

Dr. Tony Okpanachi, Managing Director/CEO of the Development Bank of Nigeria, commended UBA’s outstanding contributions, saying:

“UBA has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to alleviating financing constraints faced by MSMEs in Nigeria. Their impactful interventions, especially in supporting women entrepreneurs and underserved regions, align perfectly with DBN’s mandate. We celebrate UBA’s achievements and encourage them to continue setting benchmarks in MSME financing.”

The Development Bank of Nigeria Service Ambassador Awards is an annual event that celebrates financial institutions and partners driving transformative change in Nigeria’s MSME sector.

DBN, established to address financing challenges for small businesses, collaborates with banks like UBA to enhance access to credit and business support services.

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) was established to alleviate financing constraints faced by MSMEs in Nigeria through the provision of credit guarantees, capacity building, and partial credit risk-sharing with Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs)

United Bank for Africa is Africa’s Global Bank. Operating across twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.

UBA is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 45 million customers globally.

His net worth now stands at $23.2 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Dangote Cement shares fell to ₦480 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Dangote owns an 86% stake in Dangote Cement Plc, making him the largest shareholder in Nigeria’s biggest cement producer.

As the company’s valuation slid, the billionaire’s fortune took a direct hit.

Beyond cement, Dangote’s business empire spans several sectors. He holds stakes in Dangote Sugar, NASCON Allied Industries, United Bank for Africa, and the Dangote Refinery—his most significant asset.

The refinery, which began operations in 2024, is currently valued at $20 billion, with Dangote holding 92.3% ownership. He also owns a fertilizer plant with an annual production capacity of 2.8 million tonnes of urea.

His investments include real estate as well. He owns six residential and commercial properties in Lagos—Africa’s largest city—which are valued using capitalization rates provided by CBRE Broll Nigeria and confirmed by his spokesperson, Anthony Chiejina.

Most of Dangote’s holdings are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, making his net worth sensitive to market fluctuations. This recent loss stresses the instability of public markets and the financial risks faced even by high-profile investors.

This is the promise behind UBA’s newly upgraded mobile banking app, launched in March. With extended transaction history, improved security, and a more user-friendly interface, the update aimed to enhance the banking experience for millions of users.

But has it?

While some customers have welcomed the changes, others seem not too happy with some of the features such as battling login errors, security issues, and slow transactions. Via the app review on the Apple Store, we saw both praise and outright fury, the digital tool was celebrated and criticised in equal measure.

UBA’s Incentive to Onboard

To encourage adoption, UBA has launched a promotional campaign offering users a chance to win ₦5,000 cash, airtime, and data when they onboard the new mobile app. This is likely aimed at driving engagement and increasing the number of active users on the upgraded platform. 

But what do customers really think? Let’s dive into the reviews.

What are the People Saying?

There’s something thrilling about a bank app that greets you with a full display of your financial worth the moment you log in. But it seems some of the UBA customers think otherwise. 

Security or Sabotage?

While some users are amazed at the speed of transactions, others alleged they are faced with issues of passwords being both remembered and forgotten—by the app, that is.

“It always says it’s a wrong password while the password is correct,” complains a user, who, like many, has tried everything short of hiring a hacker to access their own money. And let’s not forget the drama of one-time passwords (OTPs) arriving long after a session has expired, ensuring that transactions become a fight of patience rather than convenience.

Speed vs. Stagnation

For every person praising the app’s “fast and furious” functionality, there’s another watching their screen load at a pace that would make a snail blush.

“The app is too slow, I think y’all need to do better,” wrote one reviewer, while another stated, “I’ve had to delete and reinstall this app multiple times. The app just hooks and loops over in poor network.”

And then, there are those who found the app “upgrade” to actually mean a “downgrade.”

“I must lay my reviews to prevent others from making such an upgrade. Transfers are now terrible,” warns a user who clearly believes in public service announcements.

User Experience

User experience is key for any appear development process. 

“The UI interface could use a lot of work, you can do way better than this,” one user advises. Another goes straight for the jugular: “Feels like it was designed by an intern UI designer.”

Glitches, Freezes, and the Case of the Missing Transactions

Another complains that the app sometimes refuses to process transactions altogether, making it about as useful as a broken ATM.

And then there’s the matter of accessibility.

“I can’t operate this app. It can load my page completely basically because I’m not in my country at the moment. I can only see my balance and not operate the app. LORD!!”

Finally?

For all what might be termed ‘flaws’ (of course, no app is 100% perfect), the UBA app still has its loyal-defenders. Some users love its new features and enhanced security. Others find it smooth, reliable, and—most importantly—working.

“One of the best in Africa (if not the best). They have their ups and downs but it’s more ups than the latter, keep breaking bounds,” one user says, choosing positivity over exasperation.

So, for the UBA mobile app, the reviews are split. Whether you love it or loathe it, you’ll definitely have something to say about it.

Furthermore, the All-Share Index further dips by 0.33 percent to 101,707.70 points, as the market capitalization dropped by the same percentage to N 55.652tn as the year-to-date gain of the index slipped to 36.02 percent.

The negative result of the ASI also impacted the sectoral indices as three out of the five sub-sectors recorded adverse movements.

The downturn upturn was driven by price depreciation in large and Medium capitalize stocks among which are; Guinness stocks, PZ Cussons, Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, United Bank for Africa, Lafarge, GTCO, FBN Holdings, Etranzact, CWG and Wema Bank. On the price movement chart, 24 stocks appreciated in price while 30 constituted the loser’s chart.

The Banking index led the losers with a 1.85 percent decline, driven by sell pressure in Unity Bank, Wema Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Zenith Bank Plc.

The Consumer and Industrial Goods indexes lost 0.22 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively, majorly due to share price decline in PZ, Cussons, Guinness Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries and Lafarge Africa.

Meanwhile, the Insurance and Oil/Gas sectors advanced by 1.13 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.

Stocks trading activity on the NGX displayed a varied trend, with the total deals and value declining by 1.16 percent and 16.09 percent to 8,614 trades and N4.3bn, respectively; In terms of Volume transactions declined, by 20.76 million, representing 8.56 percent as investors traded 263.192 million shares valued at N.300 billion in 8614 deals against 42.432 million shares worth N5.3 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 8715 deals.

The stocks gainers included Honeywell Flour Mill, Juli Plc, and Cornerstone Insurance, whose share prices appreciated by 9.92 percent, 9.90, and 9.88 percent, respectively. Whilst VeritasKap emerged as the most traded security in terms of volume with 49.07 million units changing hands in 143 deals, while UBA led in traded value at N587.50m.

At the close of trading, there were more losers at 30 than gainers which were 24 securities.

Verve has partnered with eight commercial banks namely, First Bank, Zenith, Access, Ecobank, FCMB, Union, Fidelity and United Bank for Africa (UBA) to reward its loyal customers.

Since the promo started on August 22, 2022, Verve has put smiles on the faces of its cardholders by rewarding them with 10% cashback on their weekly spend, at the end of every week.

Added to that, Verve will be rewarding 20 cardholders with a whooping sum of N1 million each, monthly. Isn’t that exciting?

Two hundred (200) cardholders will also be rewarded with N20,000 monthly when they transact with their Verve cards on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (POS) terminals, online platforms, or generate Paycodes for transactions.

Wondering how you can be one of the lucky winners? It’s quite easy! To qualify for the promo, simply start transacting with your Verve card to increase your chances of winning.

And if you do not have a Verve card from any of these banks: FirstBank, Zenith, Access, Ecobank, FCMB, Union, Fidelity, and United Bank for Africa (UBA), you can request one from the branch closest to you.

Speaking on the promo, Chidike Oluaoha, Group Head Growth Marketing, Group Marketing & Corporate Communications, Interswitch, said the Verve Goodlife 3.0 promo was designed to reward cardholders for their unwavering loyalty to Verve.

He noted that beyond providing safe and seamless payment solutions that address the lifestyle needs of Verve cardholders, Verve will continue to reward cardholders for their loyalty. He also urged cardholders to take advantage of the promo to transact more and increase their chances of winning.

The Verve Goodlife National Consumer Promo 3.0 is scheduled to run from August 22till October 30, 2022.