Ecobank top brass lead by example, serve customers

In a rare show of customer service, top executives for Ecobank Malawi on Tuesday went out of their air-conditioned offices to serve customers in the banking halls.

Ecobank Malawi managing director Charles Asiedu said the move is part of the bank’s “guest tellering” initiative which helps the bank’s top executives to have a close contact with customers.

He said the initiative helps the top brass to appreciate some of the challenges customers face when transacting their business.

“As a caring bank, we would like to show our customers that we are there for them. The guest tellering initiative helps us to appreciate what is going on at all levels of the bank,” said Asiedu.

He said tellers are the bank’s first point of contact, observing that by assuming the role of tellers, the top managers are able to get feedback from customers on how they look at the bank and its services.

“It feels good on the part of the customers to be served by the top managers. It shows that we value the business that they bring us,” said Asiedu.

The guest tellering initiative happens in all countries that the bank is operating in and sees all top officials, including the bank’s group managing director serving customers.

One of the customers, Macdonald Mankhwala, hailed the initiative as essential for the development of the relationship between the bank and its clientele.

Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with operations in 36 African countries. ETI has representative offices in Angola, China, Dubai, France, South Africa and the United Kingdom.