Over the weekend, Polaris Bank shined brightest as its custom-built in-house digital bank, VULTe, received Nigeria’s ‘Best Digital Bank of the Year’ title at the esteemed BusinessDAY’s Banks And Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards for the third time.
Additionally, Polaris Bank was named “Best MSME Bank of the Year” at the same ceremony.
VULTe, an online banking platform, allows consumers to do anything from establishing an account to applying for loans to seeing their account statements. Customers may also find out about the latest lifestyle trends and upcoming social events. It is a comprehensive answer to the common problems people have while trying to get access to banking services and other similar resources.
Over the last year, VULTe has expanded its capacity to provide seamless self-services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), high net worth individuals (HNWIs), and retail clients.
Over 40 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) operators in Nigeria may now use Vulte to acquire collateral-free loans for personal and commercial needs. Vulte makes it possible for qualified entrepreneurs and SME operators to apply for loans of up to N20 million online in as little as five minutes.
BAFI Awards organisers said that the awards selection/review committee chose Polaris Bank’s VULTe as the winner due to its superior performance relative to its industry rivals across eight parameters before awarding the award for Best Digital Bank to Polaris Bank.
Some of the indicators include the robustness of the strategy for recruiting and acquiring digital consumers, the rate of user engagement, the ease with which customers adopt digital services, the expansion of digital customers, and the safety of the platform itself.
Web and mobile site design, intuitiveness, and usefulness are also important indicators of success. So is proof of real-world advantages received from digital projects.
At the same BAFI Awards, Polaris Bank was awarded ‘MSME Bank of the Year’ making it a back-to-back victory for the Bank (having won the same title in 2022) in what the organisers characterised as the Bank’s expanded influence on MSME operators throughout Nigeria.
Polaris Bank has lent billions of dollars in the previous nine months to help small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria grow.
To help create wealth and empower entrepreneurs and players in the MSME space in Nigeria, starting with Lagos, Polaris Bank and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) launched a N1billion fund for MSMEs in May 2022.
Polaris Bank had already committed multi-billion financing to MSME operators across sectors, health included before the N1billion MSME Fund was even launched. This was in addition to other incentives, such as a moratorium on facilities granted to cushion businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects.
Dele Adeyinka, Retail & Digital Banking Divisional Head, accepted the award on behalf of the Bank. He thanked BusinessDay for the honour and dedicated the awards to the Bank’s customers and stakeholders for making VULTe what it is today. He also promised that “Polaris Bank will continue to impact MSME digitally through innovative banking products, affordable finance, and creative services that add significant value for the greater good of all.”
Polaris Bank is a digitally-forward financial institution with a focus on reshaping companies and communities via strategic alliances that prioritise its customers.
