Kampala — UNITED Bank of Africa (UBA) has introduced an online-based solution, e-alerts, which will enable customers to monitor their accounts.

"The solution sends customers an instant e-mail and SMS notification every time there is a transaction on their accounts, giving them more informed control of their financial positions and reducing on the risks of taking decisions without enough account information.

"Customers are also able to monitor and guard against suspicious and unauthorised account activities," Samuel Odeke, the UBA executive director, said. He was speaking at the launch of the product at the bank's head office at Spear House last week.

"When we opened business here, we promised to change the way the industry operates.

"We believe this also includes changing the amount of time spent in banking halls," he said.

Okede said the e-alerts service, the first of its kind in the banking industry, would also help customers to make faster and informed decisions and give them more time to devote to their businesses.

"UBA believes that in business, the availability of information or the lack thereof greatly influences business outcomes.

"We intend to leverage modern-day technology and our unrivalled experience to deliver to our individual, corporate and institutional customers, different kinds of financial information from account activity, prevailing currency rates and investment instrument rates," he said.

The product, Odeke said, would also minimise incidences of fraud since customers would be notified about any unauthorised transactions on their accounts.

He said the product, which is available on demand, is open to both institutional and individual clients.

"Email notifications are free of charge, while sms notifications cost sh199 per notification," he said.