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Union Bank of Nigeria, one of the leading banks in Nigeria, has launched a financial product, UnionKorrect, designed to boost a savings culture in the country.
 
The World Bank states that the average savings rate in Africa is around 17 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And according to a survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), an organisation that is promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria, about 80 percent of Nigerians do not have bank accounts.

UnoinKorrect allows customers to earn high interest rates while saving a fixed amount every month for a tenor of two to four years. This will help increase the low savings rate and reduce the unbanked population.

“When I came to Nigeria, One thing I noticed was that a lot of Nigerians use their savings account as a transaction account,” Carlos Wanderley, the Union Bank’s head of retail banking, said at the launch of the product in Lagos. “So, at the end of the day, their monies do not stay in their account for the purpose of saving for the future as they want. And there are no incentives for such account holders.”

Wanderley said the UnionKorrect account will be opened as a sub-account linked to the current or savings account of a customer. At the end of the savings period, Wanderley said 300 people, among 10,000 customers of Union Bank would be getting cash reward of between N100,000 and N1 million.

He also said a customer may have as many UnionKorrect accounts as they wish.

In 2012, African Capital Alliance, the largest private equity firm in Nigeria, led a consortium of investors to invest $500 million in Union Bank for a controlling stake. Then in 2014, Atlas Mara, the African investment vehicle of former Barclays bank Bob Diamond, paid $270 million for a 30 percent stake in the Bank.

Union Bank recently unveiled a new brand identity in line with bank's strategic ambition to become a highly respected provider of quality financial services in Nigeria. Its new logo still maintains the iconic white stallion but in a new form.