How to make UBA’s Smart Money smarter.

In 2014, UBA released the Smart Money mobile app and Visa backed debit card with a lot of hype and fanfare. But beyond the fluff and PR hype, what does the product offer the average customer. Granted, it is targeted at young adults and individuals who make transactions online, on the ATM and POS. That way one can make transactions without exposing one’s account to fraudsters. Equally, one can manage one’s fund properly as one determines the amount to load on the card thereby limiting one's spending.

But however, the same benefits can be gotten by creating another traditional account with another bank, with the added benefit of accessing the bank counter to make over the counter withdrawals which UBA’s Smart Money cannot do as one is limited to ATM, POS, and online transactions.

As such, there should be added benefits that differentiate UBA’s Smart Money from conventional bank accounts. One of such is setting a higher interest rate. This would draw more people from the physical branch to the digital bank as they stand to make more money off their savings. This would also be beneficial to UBA as their overhead cost for maintaining their bank branches is lowered.

Another means is putting in place overdrafts. After all, it is targeted at young adults whom might depend on their parents for stipends. As such, the overdraft serves as a buffer till their cash flow becomes positive.

Equally, financial and investment advice and tools for making investments in stocks and the likes would be of great use to many young people who are figuring out a means to earn income and would need advice.

Finally, integrating social features into the mobile app such as enabling shared payments, and giving friends the option to compete over savings can make it attractive to young people.