Banking With No Internet as… GTBank Unveils*3737# Product

By Amin Kef Sesay

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), which has been rated as one of Sierra Leone’s finest Banks, offering reliable and modern services to its numerous customers,  has on Tuesday 25^th August 2020 launched  its latest product known as *3737# for easy banking. The launch took place during an auspicious ceremony at the Bank’s Headquarters on Wilberforce Street in Freetown.

From what this medium learnt which it is now informing the public about is that *3737# enables customers to use their phones to conduct transactions as well as avail  non-customers to open accounts with the bank using the same service (*3737#). Currently the new service is only applicable to Africell Network. Customers can use 3737 to call and get more information as well.

GTBank Deputy Managing Director, Eegunike Patrick Adeyemi, described the product as one that is in line with the Government’s agenda of increasing financial inclusion in the country in order to ensure that every Sierra Leonean has access to banking services anywhere and at any time.

He described the launch as an eco-event, a landmark of GTBank and one that will usher in a transformation in the financial services of Sierra Leone. He expressed appreciation to President Bio, the Bank Governor and people of Sierra Leone for the financial inclusion policy and for giving them the opportunity to showcase what the bank can deliver.

He explained that *3737# is a mobile application that does not need internet services or smart phones. One can use the service in any location at his or her comfort.

“You can open an account on this platform with your Africell SIM which must be linked to the bank’s data base in Leone denomination. You can transfer funds to any other account,” he also intimated.

He demonstrated that if a customer is in a restaurant, the service can allow him or her to pay for goods ordered as the service is applicable in any part of the country as long as telecommunications services are available.

GTBank Head of Corporate Affairs, Arthur B. Kallon, explained that  *3737# is an easy way for customers to get their BBan through their phones, check their Bank Account balances by themselves, get mini statements, purchase airtime and pay electricity bills among others.

He said they can also use the service to transfer money via their phones or use their phones to open Bank Accounts. These services, he added, need no internet but the customer needs an Africell SIM.

He continued by stating that the first thing a customer must do is to register which can be done through Option 7 in order to access the service which is free and does not require internet.

During registration, he stated, the customer will be asked to enter a secret question which he must remember and continue the process from there.

He described the service as first of its kind in the country and one that can give easy access to their customers and will also help to reduce the crowd in the banking hall especially when the world is battling with COVID-19.

GTBank Head of E-Business, Victor Clifford demonstrated how the service operates and emphasized that one needs to have a mobile phone and a GTBank Account to enjoy the pleasure of banking with ease.

GTBank Head of Information Technology, Christian Odey, assured customers of security of the service. He disclosed how the Bank of Sierra Leone tested the service and was satisfied maintaining that was why they gave the go-ahead to launch it in the country.