Contrary to speculations that the recent sanctions meted to MTN Nigeria and four banks including Diamond Bank Plc on issues bordering on Certificate of Capital Importation (CCI), will strain the smooth operations of Diamond Yellow Account, the Managing Director of the bank, Uzoma Dozie has said there is no cause for alarm.
Business Hilights recalls that the Diamond Y’ello Account (DYA) launched in 2014 in Lagos, runs in partnership with mobile telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria, is a hybrid account that offers the over 58 million MTN subscribers a fusion of financial services and telecoms incentives such as money transfer and withdrawal, account statements confirmation and airtime purchase amongst a host of available features and benefits.
Explaining more in an interview, he said “Our relationship with MTN is the one that is envied because our Diamond Yellow product is the collaboration we have with them and because of that we have gone very far in financial inclusion space and without that collaboration we would not have achieved the mileage we have now”.
According to him, “If you are referring to the recent issue between the Central Bank and MTN on capital importation, we have been collaborating with Central Bank to try and resolve the issue; it didn’t impact on our goodwill in any way”.
“Our customers ask questions and we answered, we have been exchanging correspondences with the Government and they have also been exchanging correspondences with MTN, so we haven’t felt or seen that there is a perception issue in that regard in any way.
“Our most important stakeholders are our customers. If you take from the MTN side nobody has done a SIM swap to say we are going to another telecom for this reason.
“Secondly, on our Diamond Yellow, we have nine million people, and the people that worry about this thing, only about a few thousands that reads them in the newspaper or portals.
Dozie revealed further that “A guy on a street that we are transforming his life doesn’t know or border about what is happening. We know that for every organization, the bigger you are the more visible you are and the more you come into the raider of people”.
Diamond Bank boss argued that “This is not just a Nigerian thing, it can happen elsewhere; it is the degree of events that matters. The people on Diamond Yellow, they are happy using it because it adds value to their life”.
“We have 50 million people that are using the MTN. So despite what has happened, they are still here, which express their commitment to the Nigerian population,” elated Dozie noted.
