Monrovia – The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Liberia, in conjunction with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) University has for the first time in Liberia launched the Co-Branded Visa Pre-Paid Identification card for students on campus.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]
According to the arrangement, the visa card will also serve as ID card and will make it easier for students of AME University Graduate School to pay their fees without physically going to the bank.
Speaking at the launch of the program over the weekend at AME University campus, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA Liberia, Olalekan Balogun thanked the administration of the university for allowing the partnership to happen and described it as the gate way to reaching out to other institutions of higher learning in Liberia.
Mr. Balogun described the introduction of the Visa card service at the AME University Graduate School as a milestone and noted that plans are underway to include the Undergraduate School of the institution.
“For me this is a milestone because it is the first time this is happening in Liberia. Today, what we are trying to do is to bring modernization in that it is the beginning of saying goodbye to the days we queue up in the bank.”
“What we are doing today is to also inculcate the culture of saving in our people because money will not be physically in the hands of people,” the UBA Liberia CEO averred.
The President of AME University, Dr. Joseph T. Isaac lauded UBA for the system on campus and it is a milestone in boosting the university’s contribution to the economic development of the country.
“At AMEU, we believe in partnership. Most of what we do outside the classroom is based on partnership.”
“It (the partnership) came at the right time when we got accreditation from the Commission on Higher Education. We are very grateful to UBA for choosing us to be the first institution of higher learning in Liberia to launch this platform of utilizing the visa card,” Dr. Isaac said.
Drilling the students and the staff on the convenience of the systems, the head of Digital Banking at UBA Libera, Prince Chesson explained that in addition to tuition and other fees payment on campus, students will be able to use the card to purchase on line, off campus and other parts of the world.
The ceremony held at the conference room of AME University was attended by students who are the core beneficiaries of the system, senior faculty of the institution including the President, Dr. Joseph T. Isaac. Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Augustine Konneh and the Coordinator and Master of Divinity Dr. William Tokpah.