In an exclusive interview at his Siaka Stevens Street RCB office yesterday, Dr. Gilpin went on to say that apart from rebranding the bank and how it transacts its business to make it more attractive and bring the bank closer to the people, he said that he also looked at raising the moral of bank staff because their appearance before a potential customer goes a long way to impress positively or negatively on the mind of potential customers as well as ensure that bank staff give quality work for quality conditions of service.
He added that studies have shown that there is a dearth of banking experience in Sierra Leone with about 80% of the population not having bank accounts. He noted however that at least 76% of Sierra Leoneans especially the youth can boast of a mobile phone.
“So the idea was that if people especially youth can own a phone, why not connect them to the bank through their phones and so the idea of SIM Korpor emerged,” Dr. Gilpin said, adding that “with this innovation, the ordinary okada rider, trader, street hawker, student, farmer, housewife and any other person who cannot access a bank easily to save money or to transact any other business now has the opportunity to do so through the RCB SIM Korpor service which would be available across Sierra Leone once it is launched on Saturday 28th July, 2018.
Also speaking on the new service was Mrs. Kezia Salonkole, Head of RCB SIM Korpor Department. Explaining how it works and how it can benefit subscribers, she stated among other things that the SIM Korpor service to be launched on Saturday by the RCB would help reduce the normal long queues at the bank. She maintained that all normal transactions like withdrawing cash, paying utility bills and generally performing any transaction can be done through RCB SIM Korpor as long as the customer has an account with the RCB.
She added that special security features make it impossible for anyone to access the account in the event the owner loses his or her phone. She used the opportunity to call on all Sierra Leoneans that do not have bank accounts to open one with the RCB in order to enjoy modern banking facilities with relative ease and speed. She stated that there are two main ways to be eligible for SIM Korpor; through a SIM overlay or by downloading the app from the Google play store, adding that android phones and ordinary phones can be used for this transaction
The official launch of SIM Korpor takes place on Saturday 28th July, 2018.