The partnership entered into by United Bank for Africa, VERICASH about 10 years to bring accessible digital banking to millions has been transforming Africa’s digital banking landscape, writes Kayode Tokede

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, first partnered with VERICASH in 2015, and it has been transforming the digital banking landscape in Africa. The strategic alliance has actively reshaped the digital banking landscape in Africa and their working together has delivered several transformative changes to how banking is done on the continent.
It has accelerated digital transformation in banking, enhanced financial inclusion, seamless cross-border payments, customer-centric digital innovation, competitive edge for traditional banks and boost to Africa’s digital economy.
Speaking on what the digital banking landscape was like in Africa 10 years ago, and what specific challenges the partnership was hoping to address, the Head, Digital Banking, UBA, Mr. Olukayode Olubiyi noted that 10 years ago, Africa’s digital banking landscape was still nascent.

According to him, the mobile penetration was rising rapidly, but reliable, user-friendly banking apps were scarce. Many customers still depended on branch visits for basic transactions.
“We saw an urgent need to create a secure, scalable platform that could offer a full suite of digital banking services—from transfers to bill payments—across diverse markets with varying infrastructure and regulations. Our goal was to drive financial inclusion and make banking accessible to millions who were previously underserved,” he said.
VERICASH,  a division of CIT GLOBAL, is a technology firm with deep experience in eCommerce and mCommerce spanning over 25-30+ years. The firm major mission is to help banks, fintechs, mobile operators, and other financial services actors in emerging

The Executive Chairman, CIT VERICASH, Ashraf Zaki, explained  that the partnership with UBA is on the backdrop of the pan-African financial
 institution  vision to become Africa’s premier digital bank, but needed cutting‑edge fintech architecture to execute at scale.

“VERICASH, as a fintech‑enablement leader, offered a unified platform capable of low‑code configuration and fast deployment. This alignment, where UBA’s ambition is combined with our technology, gave both sides confidence. UBA trusted viable scale; we believed in their pan‑African reach. That shared ambition cemented confidence in success,” he explained.

Olubiyi stated that the key innovations that drove over 10 million downloads are based on the management’s ambition, as the scale of adoption exceeded our expectations.
According to him, the key innovations included a self-service onboarding process, robust features, real-time transaction alerts, and the ability to transact instantly.
He noted that the management also invested heavily in continuous improvements, integrating feedback from users to refine the experience.

‘The app’s reliability and the trust UBA enjoys in Africa played a critical role in driving this success,” Olubiyi said.
On how the partnership with  VERICASH contributed to financial inclusion across Africa’s 20+ countries where UBA operates, Olubiyi said: “Together, we have brought secure, accessible banking to millions who previously lacked reliable options.

“From enabling micro-entrepreneurs in remote areas to open accounts and receive payments to offering affordable digital services that reduce reliance on cash, our collaboration has helped break down barriers.
“Features like bank-to-wallet, multilingual support, and instant transfers have made it possible for more people to participate in the financial system.”

The feature developed through the collaboration has revolutionised African banking sector, part of which includes a multi-layered platform that unifies all digital banking services and resilient mobile banking applications in the market.
According to Zaki, before the widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence(AI), the company’s  most significant breakthrough was the creation of a centralised digital banking infrastructure that was not only scalable and secure but also highly adaptable across Africa’s diverse markets.

“Through the close collaboration between VERICASH, UBA, and CWG, we developed a modular, multi-layered platform that unified all digital banking services under a single digital umbrella. One of the most revolutionary features was the platform’s cross-country configuration capabilities, which empowered UBA to operate consistently and efficiently across more than 20 jurisdictions.

“This level of standardisation and flexibility was unprecedented and laid the groundwork for digital banking transformation across the continent. This success was further enabled by our powerful management tools and advanced operational excellence techniques, which drive performance, reliability, and continuous innovation.
“These capabilities have allowed us to deliver one of the most scalable and resilient mobile banking applications in the market, a fact consistently validated by customer surveys showing the highest levels of trust and satisfaction in the UBA mobile banking experience,” he said.

On how UBA balances maintaining global banking standards while ensuring the app remains accessible to users across diverse African markets with varying technological infrastructure, Olubiyi said: “This is a core challenge.
“We designed the app to be modular and adaptive while maintaining encryption and compliance protocols. Our teams work constantly to ensure that while we meet international standards, we don’t lose sight of local realities.”
To ensure personalised banking experiences while scaling across diverse African markets, Olubiyi noted that personalisation at this scale requires a combination of smart technology and deep understanding of our customers’ unique needs across the retail and SME segments on the app.
“We also recognise the diversity across African markets, differences in languages, regulations, and connectivity so the app is designed to adapt to local contexts.

“For example, it can switch seamlessly between high-speed and low-bandwidth modes, and offers multilingual support. Above all, we keep listening to customer feedback in each segment and market, so we can continuously evolve the experience to feel relevant, personal, and responsive to every user.”
Talking about security that is paramount in digital banking, Zaki noted that security is embedded at every layer of the VERICASH platform.
“From robust identity verification and multi-factor authentication to real-time AI-driven fraud prevention, we’ve architected the solution to detect and respond to threats proactively.
“With 24/7 system monitoring and dedicated application quality support, we ensure rapid incident response and system continuity. The platform adheres to local regulatory requirements across UBA’s footprint, while centralising oversight through our Centre of Excellence.

“We also empower banks with behaviour-based risk scoring, device fingerprinting, and encrypted data handling, ensuring that UBA remains a security leader in African digital banking.”
He stated further that for the application’s performance optimisation is a core principle of its solution design.
“We use intelligent caching and progressive data loading to ensure fast, reliable access even under constrained network conditions. The mobile app is lightweight making it compatible with older Android devices and enabling partial feature updates without requiring full app redeployment. Our service analytics tools continuously monitor usage patterns, enabling UBA to fine-tune performance across markets in real time,” Zaki said.

He added that in the next decade, the company is deeply excited about the transformative potential of AI and its central role in shaping the next era of its digital financial services platform.
According to him, over the past couple of years, the company had laid a solid foundation by embedding AI across multiple layers of our platform — from hyper-personalised banking experiences to AI-powered fraud detection, smart customer insights, and automated customer journeys.

“Our AI-driven recommendation engines already support personalized financial offerings, while our embedded finance capabilities are enabling seamless, contextual access to services within third-party ecosystems,” he said.
Commenting further, he said:  “Looking ahead, our roadmap includes expanding AI use in predictive analytics, conversational banking, and AI-enabled credit scoring models to unlock financial access for underserved segments. We’re also advancing our AI video explainers, chatbot integrations, and internal AI marketing automation to strengthen engagement and operational efficiency.

“Beyond AI, we’re closely exploring blockchain to support secure, transparent multi-party transactions, especially in cross-border remittance and trade finance.
“Additionally, IoT-driven innovations — such as offline biometric authentication and device-triggered micro-payments — will help us reach communities beyond traditional banking networks.  Together with UBA and CWG, our strategic partnership will continue to act as a launchpad for these next-gen technologies, advancing our shared vision of inclusive, intelligent digital finance across Africa.”

On the role of traditional banks evolving in Africa’s increasingly digital financial landscape, Olubiyi: stated that the traditional banks are transforming from primarily physical institutions to digital-first service providers.
“However, branches still play an important role in trust-building and onboarding. We see the future as hybrid—combining high-tech digital channels with personalized human support to serve customers better.”