Ecobank USSD Codes, Banking Details, Loans, Customer Care, Mobile App

How Do I Use Eco Bank Mobile App?
Advertisements

The establishment, realization, and growth of Ecobank is a series of events that depicts how a vision can be transformed into an idea, and an idea, a reality. It is a story that has the spirit of enterprise, self-determination, and commitment as its major themes.

This article is based on detailed research on archived materials; a recollection of specific events which relate to the establishment of Ecobank, its growth, and how it became one of the leading pan-African banks.

Ecobank History

Ecobank was founded over thirty years ago, in the early 1980s, a period which was characterized by bleak economic fundamentals in the whole of the African continent. The founders were inspired by the establishment and existence of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS ), which was inaugurated in 1975.

They envisioned a regional bank in West Africa through which trade and commerce could be boosted across the sub-Saharan African countries, in the face of the political upheavals, coups, and civil wars, which plagued the country then. The inspiration for the creation of Ecobank began to fall into place at a meeting of the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce ( FWACC), in Mali, in the year 1972.

Advertisements

The members of the committee

Founded by renowned Nigerian entrepreneur, Chief Henry Fayemirokun – began to debate the idea of a private sector institution that would help facilitate trade in sub-regional Western Africa. Prior to the development of this idea, strong trader communities in Togo, Benin, and some other Sahel countries voiced their frustrations at the declining foreign business interests, especially in the banking sector because state-driven economic companies were not robust enough to support the business ideas of the traders.

In 1979, a FWACC meeting in Monrovia resolved to extend its membership to all ECOWAS states thereby drawing in francophone states and strengthening membership capacity. The idea for the establishment of the regional bank was then reintroduced to the committee; it was until 1982, that the concept received serious consideration.

A memo written by one of the founders in the same year highlighted that the FWACC had the ability to promote an institution that could become one of the most influential in Africa, and that could, if properly set up and managed, become a vital tool in the economic development of Africa.

Furthermore, he stated that the group owed it as a duty to posterity, to develop Africa economically. The founders began brainstorming for a name for the bank; other names such as the West African Bank of Commerce and Industry, and Banque d’Accord, among others were suggested before the founders settled on Ecobank.

The ECOWAS heads of government first received the Ecobank proposal for their consideration during the Conakry summit in 1983, but it wasn’t until the Lomé summit in November 1984, that the leaders formally endorsed the setting up of Ecobank. Invigorated by this support, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), was constituted on 3rd October 1985 with an intended initial capital of US$100 million.

The ECOWAS fund also donated the sum amount of US$5 million to boost the credibility of the bank and also prepare the minds of major institutions in the region to support the creation of the bank. A significant date in the history of the bank was on the 5th of October, 1985, when the group reached an agreement with the Togolese government to situate the bank’s headquarters in the country.

They reached another milestone when an agreement was reached with one of the world’s leading international banks – Citibank – to assist Ecobank during its transitional period with administration and training. The technical assistance was agreed to run for two years from 1986 to 1988. Alan Goldie was the team leader from Citibank.

Altogether, ninety members made up the founding committee of Ecobank; eight from Benin Republic, nine from Burkina Faso, fourteen from the Ivory Coast, two from Guinea Bissau, three from Liberia, one from Mali, eighteen from Nigeria, four from Senegal, one from Sierra Leone and ten from Togo.

Sadly, Chief Henry Fayemirokun, the founder of FWACC, who had brought up the idea of the private regional banking sector died in 1978, a year before the dream he shared with other founders was realized.

The first chairman of the Ecobank group was Thomas Hope from Sierra Leone. In 1988, three years after it was constituted, Ecobank opened officially for business. The delay was partly due to the time it took to raise the US$30 million capital agreed as the threshold for its takeoff.

Advertisements

Within the first three years of the establishment of Ecobank, the group opened branches in five African states – Togo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Ghana. The benefits of this expansion were tremendous and confirmed the fact that the sub-Saharan African region was waiting for a bank with regional ambitions. This was followed by their partnership with Acción International, a pioneer of microfinance focused in Brazil, thus helping the group achieve customers in the informal sector, thereby bringing a significant number of small and medium enterprises ( SMEs ) into the fold.

In 1999, Ecobank Development Corporation, one of Ecobank’s most important subsidiaries was launched as the investment banking arm of the group, targeting investors and the financial markets. The second wave of expansion came between the years 1997 and 2001, which increased the group’s coverage from five to twelve countries. Subsidiaries were established in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Liberia and Cameroon.

Amidst the growth and expansion, the group witnessed a lot of challenges and setbacks. Some of the challenges were partly due to difficulties in resolving the structural and financial relationship between the group and its subsidiaries.

How To Open EcoBank Account

Ecobank Financial Crisis

In 1995, Ecobank had its most serious financial crisis, which resulted in a fifty percent reduction of the group’s capital. A remedial action had to be taken and Arnold Ekpe, the managing director of the then Citibank was lured into the bank to take over the reins as the chief executive officer in September 1996, the management and members of the board were also restructured in the same year.

In the mid-1990s, precisely 1997, a new strategy was adopted which was described in the annual report as “a balanced portfolio approach to the business of the Ecobank Transnational Incorporation”. The report further stated that the group sought to avoid concentrations on particular subsidiaries and to diversify revenues and risks across customers, markets, currencies, and countries.

The bank modified structures to bring them in line with international standards and to attract international investors. Shareholders were happy and appreciated the fact that they had a steady and successful bank, paying regular dividends. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank invested in the Ecobank Burkina Faso affiliate in 1997, and in ETI, in 1998. The IFC remains one of Ecobank’s major investors to date.

The ambition of the bank to be a dynamic African bank, focusing on serving ordinary customers and businesses, while contributing to the economic growth of Africa and promoting inter-regional trade was accomplished within twenty-two years.

By 2012, Ecobank was widely acclaimed as the leading pan-African bank with over 1,150 branches. The group was restructured in 2010 and divided into three entities – domestic banking, corporate banking, and Ecobank capital – to foster service rendering. In 2011, ETI announced a hundred percent takeover of Nigeria’s oceanic bank which pushed Ecobank to a new milestone.

By the takeover, Ecobank achieved three hundred and seventy-three branches across the country. This was followed by a hundred percent acquisition of the trust bank Ghana Limited in January 2012, which added over seventy branches to the group’s Ghana affiliates. The customer network of the group also increased due to the bank’s strategy of locating some of its branches close to border crossings and around markets to make it easier for traders to deposit their money at the end of each day.

The group runs a foundation – the Ecobank Foundation – through which a list of grants has been disbursed to a plethora of organizations in countries stretching from Mali to Nigeria. Some beneficiaries of the grant include the Pathfinder Foundation which provides training camps for young girls in information technology, science, and maths in Ouagadougou, Niamey, and Porto Novo; the international child care organization in Nigeria which provides meals for underprivileged children, and the planet Azul project for environmental protection in São Tomé.

Advertisements

The ETI kept expanding and consolidating, which gave it more vitality and established the fact that Ecobank was a single entity, other than a collection of subsidiaries. Today, the ETI has nine arms; the Ecobank Development Corporation – EDC (headquarters at Lome); the EDC Investment Corporation (headquarters at Abidjan and Douala); the EDC Securities Limited (headquarters at Lagos); the EDC Stock Brokers Limited (headquarters at Accra); the Ecobank asset management (headquarters at Abidjan); the e-process international SA (headquarters at Lomé) and the ECV Servicios (headquarters at Praia).

The ETI stock is traded on the three African stock exchange markets; the Nigerian stock exchange, the Ghana stock exchange, and the BRVM stock exchange in Abidjan. The group has ten major stockholders and other private investors. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated as a licensed public company offers products that include banking services, investments, funds transfer, products and services, securities, and asset management.

The group has had over fourteen chairmen, with the current chairman being Emmanuel Ikazoboh, and the chief executive officer, Ade Ayeyemi. The group has over twenty-three thousand employees whose nationalities span over forty countries, and a net customer of over 8.4 million.

The group’s current presence spans 32 African countries which include, Angola, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao time and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

EcoBank USSD Codes

It also has branches in Dubai, London, and Paris and has prospects to open branches in New York and Beijing. The group also has strong and strategic alliances with Nedbank of South Africa and the Bank of China.

Like other regions of the world, Africa’s politico-economic environment has been transformed by globalization which in turn has impacted Ecobank, as it moves closer to achieving its recent ambition to become a world-class African bank.

EcoBank USSD Code

*326# is the Ecobank USSD Code. With this code, you can control and change your entire banking system. The Ecobank USSD code allows you to bank freely, smartly, safely, and conveniently, anywhere and anytime, on any device.

You can use the *326# self-service code to do any of these:

  • Open an Ecobank account.
  • Reactivate Your Ecobank Account.
  • Transfer Funds.
  • Buy Data & Airtime.
  • Check Your ECOBANK Account Balance.
  • Create an OTP (One Time Password).
  • Create a Transaction PIN.
  • Create Internet Banking Login Details.
  • Pay Bills.

Ecobank Swift Code

The swift code for ECOBANK is ECOCNGLA.

Ecobank Mobile App

Ecobank has a mobile application for iOS and Android users. Android users can get the bank’s app from the Google Play Store and iPad/iPhone users can get it on their App Store.

How To Create an Ecobank Account

You can open an ECOBANK account simply by dialing *326# on any network. It doesn’t matter the phone you are using, be it an iPhone, Android, or Nokia Torchlight, you can open an Ecobank account with the USSD code.

If you do not have an account, your Bank Verification Number (BVN) will be required by the bank. After submission of your BVN, you will be given some instructions and your account number will be automatically generated and sent as an SMS to the number you entered during registration.

You don’t need airtime, data, form, or passport to open an account using this method. You can also open an account at any ECOBANK branch close to you.

How To Use Ecobank USSD Transfer Code

Virtually all Nigerian banks including Ecobank have USSD codes for the purpose of making financial transactions. You don’t have to pay for registration and subscription to the Ecobank USSD service. It is completely FREE of charge. To register for the Ecobank Nigeria USSD service, you’d need the following:

  • A mobile phone.
  • An Ecobank account.
  • An Ecobank debit card.
  • Your registered SIM card is inserted into the mobile phone you’re using.

How to Register For The Ecobank USSD Service

If you wish to start using the Ecobank service, endeavor to follow these steps:

  • Dial *326#.
  • Select Create a PIN.
  • Enter your Ecobank Account as requested.
  • Enter your debit card details.
  • Create a 4-digit PIN.
  • Confirm your 4-digit PIN.

Ecobank Customer Care Number and Contact

Are you having any problems with your Ecobank account? Or would you like to inquire about any other service offered by Ecobank? A customer care line is your go-to call. Let’s look at how to contact Ecobank.

Ecobank has a lot of competent Customer Care agents available 24/7 to attend to and resolve all your complaints. You can contact the Ecobank customer care representative through any of the following means:

  • Tel: +23412772904
  • Email Address: ecobankcustomersupport@ecobank.com
  • Official Website: www.ecobank.com/ng

You can drop your request or complaint messages on their official social media pages at:

  • Facebook: www.facebook.com/EcobankNGR
  • Twitter: www.twitter.com/ecobank_nigeria

A customer care representative will reply to you as soon as soon can be and all your queries and complaints will be solved ASAP.

You should know that no ECOBANK customer care representative will ask for your personal information like ATM PIN, ATM card number, Mobile Banking PIN, CCV Number, or Token or OTP (One Time Password) to complete your request. They have everything they need on their end, you have to say YES or No to authorize them to do what they have to do.

Advertisements

Conclusion

Ecobank simplifies banking through efficient USSD codes, detailed banking information, diverse loan offerings, attentive customer care, and a user-friendly mobile app—putting financial control at your fingertips.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top