In common with all Mobile Network Operators, Nigerian-based 9mobile needed to build expansive business support systems to ensure it had the business intelligence to be able to understand customer behaviours, increase ARPU and reduce churn with the help of Voucher Management System.

Nigeria is a fast-paced and competitive business landscape, with all four major operators wanting to increase voucher sales, as well as margins, whilst reducing risk and operating costs.

Bluechip Technologies was the natural partner when 9mobile needed a robust Voucher Management Software to manage the complete lifecycle of prepaid vouchers, from PIN generation through Redemption and Administration.

Background

Nigeria has the largest number of mobile subscribers in Africa, and with four major mobile operators, it is inevitably a very competitive landscape.  One of the largest players – and the youngest – is the wholly Nigerian-owned, 9mobile.

9mobile has always operated on the core values of industry-leading customer service and innovation, and today, it boasts over 13 million customers and growing. In December 2022, 9mobile was awarded the  Deborah Leipziger Africa Prize for Innovation at the 16^th edition of the prestigious Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, and Responsibility Awards.

How did Bluechip help with the Voucher Management System implementation?

The partnership between 9mobile and Bluechip Technologies began with 9mobile’s inception as a mobile operator in Nigeria in 2008.

One of the first projects Bluechip Technologies delivered was a state-of-the-art Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) to provide a ‘single source of the truth’ and to automate the delivery of daily business Key Performance Indicators to enable proactive decision making via a self-service Business Intelligence suite which ensures that 9mobile always had accurate and timely business information at their fingertips.

Bluechip Technologies implemented Simplex – a ‘Trade Watchtower’ product to manage 9mobile’s entire Sales & Distribution Lifecycle and provide a 360° view of the business by capturing all activities within the value chain and delivering omni-channel monitoring of the ‘in-the-field sales force’.

Simplex is a cloud-based market-leading Voucher Management solution that manages the complete lifecycle of prepaid vouchers, from their generation through to redemption, covering all aspects of PIN Management, Stock Management, Fraud Management, Order and Sales Management and Security. By design, Simplex offers Open APIs with built-in integration with ERP systems to Service Providers and the IN. Using the integrated payment gateway allows easy payments via bank transfers or credit cards.

It is designed for forward-thinking telecoms, energy, retail, and entertainment businesses. Simplex is securely engineered through a combination of market-leading technology solutions as well as multiple industry know-how.

Summary

Utilising the Voucher Management Software, Bluechip Technologies was able to meet 9mobile’s needs.

It was able to achieve the following;

• Automated the Order to Delivery (O2D) process, which improved the turnaround time from days to minutes.
• Increase the airtime sales revenue by 2X within the first six months of implementation.
• Increased security in the business process, thereby cutting down fraud drastically.
• Reduced the cost by up to 50%, incurred on PIN Generation drastically through the demand management and flexible licensing of Simplex.
• Consolidation of multiple applications reduced the multiple service failure points, thereby increasing the uptime of the platform.

Provide visibility across the inventory across the entire value chain, especially the last mile.

Read the full case study here.

Bluechip’s CMDM implementation to improve the quality of data flowing into the Enterprise Data Warehouse

Digital banking in Nigeria is on the rise, and banks need to do all they can to ensure seamless transactions and processes for clients.

Wema Bank pioneered and today operates the most extensive digital banking system across Nigeria – ALAT – a digital-only banking service launched in 2017.  ALAT is a branchless & paperless bank with the ability to perform banking transactions easily on-line using a mobile phone, PC or tablet.

Background

Wema Bank Plc (Wema Bank) is a Nigerian commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the regulator of the nation’s banking sector. Wema Bank was established in 1945 and is Nigeria’s longest-established indigenous bank.

Wema Bank chose Bluechip Technologies to implement its Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) solution to improve the quality of data flowing into the Enterprise Data Warehouse.

How Bluechip Helped with the Digital Transformation

As part of the digital transformation at Wema Bank, Bluechip implemented several models:

CMDM

• In 2019, during the initial phase of the Digital Transformation project, it was crucial to ensure the quality of the data in the Enterprise Data Warehouse in order to create reliable Business Intelligence from Advanced Analytics.
•  Bluechip Technologies’ CMDM was used to automate and operationalise its Data Governance Policies & Procedures, ensuring clean customer data.
• This project was regarded as one of the most successful during the pandemic for the bank.

Enterprise Data Warehouse

• The next stage was for Bluechip Technologies to build an Enterprise Data Warehouse, with the objective to provide a central source of customer data across the entire organisation and to ensure a 360-degree view of their customers. Bluechip Technologies built the Enterprise Data Warehouse in 2021 using Microsoft Azure – Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse Analytics and PowerBI.

Segmentation Analysis and Modelling

• Wema Bank wanted to promote the right products to customers, using properly segmented customer information to deliver insights into expected customer behaviours.
• Using reliable data from the Enterprise Data Warehouse, Bluechip seamlessly integrated and operationalised the Customer Segmentation Model into existing customer-facing applications, increasing engagement on campaigns, offers and promotions.

The benefits included:

• Enhanced customer understanding – Customer segmentation analysis provided a deeper understanding of different customer groups and their unique characteristics.
• Improved Target Marketing – Segmentation enabled more focused and targeted Marketing efforts leading to improved campaign results.
• Increased Customer Loyalty – By understanding customer needs and behaviours, Wema Bank developed tailored strategies that enhanced Customer Loyalty.
• Better Product Development – Segmentation provided insights into customer needs and preferences that informed Product Development and improved the overall Customer Experience.
• Increased Sales – By tailoring offerings to specific customer segments, Wema Bank increased Sales and Revenue.
• Improved resource allocation – Segmentation helped Wema Bank allocate resources more effectively by focusing on the most profitable customer segments.
• Increased personalisation – Wema Bank used customer segmentation to personalise customer interactions and improve customer satisfaction.

Transaction Classification & Recommendation Model

An essential deliverable from Bluechip Technologies to Wema Bank was the Transaction Classification & Recommendation Model. Wema Bank needed a solution that would enhance insight into customer product propensity and channel adoption, using customer demographics & transacting behaviours.

The approach taken was to classify ‘customer clusters’ based on demographics and behaviours.

A few of the benefits included:

• Understanding Customer Behaviour – Classifying customers based on transactions enabled further analytical insight into customer behavioural patterns.
• Drive Transaction Frequency via Partners – Increased the transaction frequency via Wema Bank partners.
• Cross-selling to Transaction Categories – Enabled Cross-selling of similar transaction classification categories to other customers with similar segmentation.
• Up-Selling Customers – Increased customer spend by recommending higher-value transaction types.
• Channel & Product Adoption – Drove the adoption of particular products and particular channels.
• Improved Customer Experience – Improved customer experience with ‘Right customer, right product, right time

Summary

Wema Bank invested heavily to improve its Data Quality – both old and new  – in order to be able to achieve the desired customer experience across all channels – whether it was services or campaigns. In the first year of implementation, Wema pushed its Data Quality Index up to 80%, and CMDM remains a foundational application within the bank’s Data Management ecosystem.

Read the full case study here.