Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC has announced the first-of-its-kind partnership with Bento Africa, to offer more value to Nigerian businesses of all sizes.
Bento Africa is a payroll and Human Resource Management (HRM) company with a mission to meet work wherever it happens, expand broader access to a wider range of financial services and drive inclusion across the continent.
Speaking on the rationale behind the partnership, the Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Wole Adeniyi stated that the bank was committed to delivering more digitalised value-added services to businesses and SMEs. Every business we serve pays salaries and has employees – The provision of a world-class technology platform that enhances how they relate with our bank, drove this strategic partnership.
He said: “We are delighted to partner with Bento Africa, who currently serves over 1,000 businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, with plans to roll out to an additional 10 countries by the end of the year. Bento Africa is modernising the payroll and HRM market in Africa which has traditionally relied on laborious, manual processes to handle payroll. The start-up helps businesses of all sizes to automate the disbursement of salaries and other statutory remittances, including taxes and pensions with a single click.”
“Stanbic IBTC customers can access Bento’s services through our digital platforms, including payroll and HRM services, detailed financial data analytics, and seamless payment of employees in both the formal and informal sector, while staying compliant to local laws,” Wole said.
He went on to explain that the Bento platform is embedded in the Stanbic IBTC SME internet banking portal, where customers can access the website and get registered. “Customers can access the Bento platform by clicking the Bento digital icon on our SME internet banking, which will redirect them to the Bento web portal for registration,” he added.
The service will be free for Stanbic IBTC customers for the first three months and is a welcome development for businesses who spend hours each month manually processing payroll and calculating and submitting statutory remittances, which is not only laborious but often leads to errors and the problem of “ghost workers”.
Speaking on behalf of the Bento team the founders, Ebun Okubanjo and Chidozie David Okonkwo said “we see this as the beginning of much deeper partnerships with established institutions and start-ups. We are not surprised that Stanbic IBTC was the first to the table, as the bank and its history are grounded in innovation and we have enjoyed working with them and are extremely excited about the future of salaries and benefits and what that will mean for the employer, the employee and society as a whole.”
Both Stanbic IBTC and Bento Africa are of the opinion that the spirit of innovation that brought this partnership together will inevitably lead to more value-added services for Stanbic IBTC customers.
