Botswana Building Society (BBS) has signalled its jump into the global banking community with this week's launch of its Visa debit card.
The BBS Visa card enables its customers to transact on any ATMs and access Point of Sale (POS) machines in retail outlets anywhere across the globe.
Previously, BBS customers were not able to use their cards on other financial institutions' ATMs or POS machines as the system was in a closed loop. This affected the speed and convenience with which customers could carry out their financial transactions.
Speaking during the launch on Tuesday, the BBS managing director, Susan Ntsima said the partnership with Visa will help reposition the institution’s brand. She said BBS has entered into agreements with several local businesses for customers to enjoy discounts when they transact using the BBS Visa card.
“We are also hoping that we will attract a lot of new customers who may have previously been discouraged by not being able to access their funds at their convenience from anywhere in the world under the previous set-up,” she said. “The BBS card is for everyone, senior citizens as well as the young, including tertiary students who can now save with BBS knowing that they also have the comfort of accessing part of their funds to meet their needs as situations require.”
BBS board chair, Bernard Mzizi said the institution is pursuing a strategy to grow its business by developing capacity for more products and services. Organic growth would ensure that BBS captures economies of scale, allowing better utilisation of infrastructure, he said.
“Today, we have a diverse group of customers with varied needs throughout the country. “That is why we must develop the flexibility to cater for your needs in different locations. “The Visa platform is one way of achieving this goal. “Our survival as a business will depend very much on how diversified our products and services are so that we deliver on our customer’s expectations,” he said.
BBS Ltd which was formerly called United Building Society has been in operation for 51 years specialising in giving out mortgages and shares investments.
The institution is finalising the transformation into a commercial bank and is awaiting final approval from the Bank of Botswana, which will allow it to provide more products and services on an equal footing with commercial banks.
Should the approval be granted, BBS Ltd will become the country’s first indigenous bank.
