Decode Fintech

How GTB 737 became one of Nigeria's largest USSD brands

Episode Summary

Yemi Atanda, Group Head of ePayments at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), takes us behind the scenes of GTB 737, GTB's wildly successful USSD service. Yemi shares the origin of 737, from how they selected the specific numbers 737, to usage trends, to the wildly successful mass marketing campaign that helped introduce the financial product to everyday Nigerians.

Episode Notes

Yemi Atanda, Group Head of ePayments at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), takes us behind the scenes of GTB 737, GTB's wildly successful USSD service.

Yemi shares the origin of 737, from how they selected the specific numbers 737, to usage trends, to the wildly successful mass marketing campaign that helped introduce the financial product to everyday Nigerians.

In this episode, we talk about

01:06 - Yemi's journey from mechanical engineering to digital banking

03:34 - What USSD is, and how 737 came to be

11:56 - Building out 737 with human-centered design

13:22 - The various use-cases for 737, and the one that trumps them all

16:55 - [Paystack Merchant Alert] Introducing Renmoney paystack.com/renmoney

17:46 - The typical 737 customer

19:08 - How the team came up with the popular 737 jingle

20:25 - Marketing 737 to the average Nigerian

22:17 - Preventing fraud on 737

23:50 - Exploring plans to expand 737 outside of Nigeria

25:27 - Learning about Nigerian behaviour through the lens of 737 usage trends

27:23 - The future of 737 as a USSD service

30:59 - The most important question

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