Sierra Leone: Ecobank launches Junior Savers Account

By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma

As a way of reaching out to more diverse customers, Ecobank Sierra Leone has on Saturday 20^th July, 2024, launched the Ecobank Junior Savers Account at the Freetown City Council Hall in Freetown.

The event was attended by over two hundred (200) children and parents from different schools across the country.

 Speaking during the Junior Savers Account Conference, Kate Thompson, Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank said the bank has been in Sierra Leone since 2006 and has been providing quality services and products to its customers adding that today’s launch of the Ecobank Junior Savers Account is another testament of their continued delivery of their services to its diverse clients in the country.

‘’I wanted to let everyone know that Ecobank is interested in the total development of Sierra Leone and that has been shown. And we wanted to let everyone know that we actually take care of young children. Today when you take the population of Sierra Leone, for example,  the average age is about 19 years and it means that in  the future we will have quite  a lot of young people,’’she said .

She added that as a bank, they wanted to instill into people in order to see the need to start putting money aside for the development and the future of their children, stating  the junior savers account has been there for a while but hasn’t been known by everyone thus the need they have organized the Junior savers account conference .

 ‘’But again, we took this time because this is the time that children are on break. Most of them are home and they don’t know what to do with themselves, we wanted to introduce to them something that they can talk about, and they become ambassadors wherever they are. And for us, we believe that in doing this we are actually contributing to the economy and development of Sierra Leone,’’ Kate Thompson stressed.

The Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank further added that, with the junior savers account, it is an account that one wouldn’t need to change their  account number throughout their  life time adding that the holder will be exposed to all its 33 African countries where the Pan African bank have presence in using their services and products. 

‘’So when you start the account age zero months you can maintain this account for life, which means that we have set you up  for life. The other thing is that you are also exposed to all the 33 African countries we have presence.  We are also ensuring that we are taking care of the family from beginning to the end,’’the head of consumer banking lamented.

She went on to say that what set them apart from other banks in the country is that they are also offering insurance products, which she said  is a very key thing today, because you don't know what life  comes with tomorrow.

‘’This account allows parents to have it on their mobile devices, so you can easily find your account, find the junior saver account from your main account. So the idea is that there are so many benefits, we would ensure that in the lifespan of the child, you're exposed to various financial things, one of the key things is that you'll be receiving financial advice, send you SMS, you'll be getting messages on their birthdays, they'll be getting tips on financial management and this is what also sets us apart from the others,’’ Madam Thompson assured.

Christiana Banya, a parent, who attended the launch of the Junior Savers Account conference, praised the bank for bringing such initiative which she said is an opportunity for them to save and plan the future of their children.

 ‘’As a parent, I feel proud to be part of Ecobank; it is an opportunity that comes my way so I have to make use of it as a parent. The fact that they went to our school and then they talk to us motivated us. So we are pleased to come and join them and to have an account with them, ‘’ she said.

Christiana Banya however encouraged other parents to join the bank and to open a Junior Savers Account for their children adding that it is important to do business with the bank referring to the institution as the best banking institution in the country.

During the maiden conference, children took part in artwork painting, leadership skills among other activities.