Category: Money

By Collins Nweze

Fidelity Bank Plc at the weekend clinched the award for Commercial Bank of the Year at the 2020 edition of BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards held in Lagos. The bank won the award in recognition of its support for economic activities in the real sectors of the Nigerian economy, particularly for its consistency in enhancing the development and competitiveness of Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Receiving the award on behalf of the bank at the presentation ceremony which took place at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Fidelity Banks’s Executive Director, Corporate Bank, Obaro Odeghe dedicated it to the bank’s teeming customers, whom he said are central to the bank’s overall strategic intent.

“The reward for hard work they say is more work. We are encouraged to continue to do more for the benefits of our customers and the overall economy,” he stated.

Also, on the night, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo was honored as the banking sector CEO of the Decade for “transforming Fidelity Bank into one of the fastest growing and most trusted financial services brands in Nigeria”. The organisers specifically noted some of his key achievements to include the rebranding project which drove an increased youth appeal; revamping of the bank’s performance management culture to instill a culture of performance; technology refresh and digital transformation in furtherance of the digital retail strategy he implemented.

The award was received on behalf of Okonkwo by the bank’s Executive Director, Operations and Technology, Gbolahan Joshua who dedicated it to all stakeholders including, customers, shareholders, Board of Directors, Executive Management and staff.

By Collins Nweze

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has won two laurels at the BusinessDay’s Bank and other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI)  held at the weekend in Lagos. The bank won in the Bank of the Year and the International Bank of the Year categories.

The Tier-1 lender  beat other strong contenders – Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and First Bank – to clinch the two top categories in a well-attended ceremony comprising of Bank CEO’s, Captains of Industries and Senior financial executives.

UBA won the ‘Bank of the Year’ in recognition of UBA’s consistent effort in outperforming its peers using a composite of financial metrics, strategic foresight, execution discipline, world-class governance and global vision.

The Bank also won the award for ‘International Bank of the Year’, a keenly contested category, that pitches Nigerian financial institutions that have expanded on the continent against their international peers operating across Africa.

UBA’s Deputy Managing Director, Liadi Ayoku, who received the awards on behalf of the bank, expressed his delight on the recognition from BusinessDay.

He said, “These awards mark another milestone for UBA Group and is a testament of the diligent execution of the bank’s strategic initiatives on customer service. Being recognised as Nigeria’s best bank complements positive feedback from customers and is a recognition of our improving efficiencies, service quality and innovation. I, therefore, dedicate it to our growing loyal corporate and retail customers, who are our essence. Given our heritage commitment to Africa’s development, we continue to impact lives through our service as well as funding to individuals, businesses and government.”

 Collins Nweze

IN its quest to foster educational development, Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited,  has created the Stanbic IBTC “Education Trust” (SET) scheme.  SET is a convenient and flexible investment plan with long term benefits, designed to support parents and guardians as they strive to provide quality education for their children and wards.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of preparing for unprecedented situations cannot be overemphasised. This investment plan helps parents and guardians prepare for rainy days to ensure their children and wards have access to excellent learning. Parents and guardians are also able to nominate SET as a beneficiary for their insurance policies as this can help cushion the effect of a parent or guardian’s death or permanent disability on the education of the child or ward.

Speaking on the rationale behind SET, Charles Omoera, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited, stated that the organisation understands the importance of quality education on individuals and the country’s economic growth.

“We understand the major role quality education plays in laying a good foundation towards building future leaders. That is why at Stanbic IBTC, we encourage parents and guardians to properly plan and invest in educational trusts like SET to avoid occurrences that might bring their children or wards’ education to a halt,” he said.

According to him, an education trust helps smoothen the rough financial edges when adverse circumstances occur and makes the attainment of family goals and aspirations seamless to achieve. One unique benefit of SET is that payments are effected directly to the institution of learning thereby ensuring there are no diversion of funds.

He added that parents owe their children and wards quality education to help them unlock the unique opportunities that quality education offers. “With smart investments, attaining a great future is more achievable for our child. Whether it is primary, secondary, tertiary or post-graduate education, parents and guardians now have an opportunity to make contributions towards funding the education of their children and wards,” he added.

 Collins Nweze

THE 9 Payment Service Bank (PSB) has said its entry into the financial sector would deliver financial literacy and inclusion to unbanked and underbanked Nigerians.

The bank also said it will be providing creative and market-driven financial services solutions to its customers.

During the launching held in Lagos, also culminated in the unveiling of 9PSB’s slogan, tagged, ‘Our Bank’.

Designed to operate simpler, convenient and more reliable channels for customers to conduct financial services, 9PSB is also the first Payment Service Bank to address critical challenges of the financially excluded customer demography in Nigeria.

Speaking during the event, the CEO of 9PSB, Branka Mracajac stated that the key mitigating strategy that would aid 9PSB in fufiling the financial inclusion mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria is by offering compelling products, seamless execution and excellent customer service.

“Financial innovation plays a unique role in fostering sustainable and equitable growth primarily among the unbanked and underbanked within the rural areas in Nigeria, and I am very optimistic that 9PSB will drive financial innovation, especially among the youth and women across Nigeria. This is our goal at 9PSB. It is also why we are here. It is the difference we are committed to making in the Nigerian financial sector,” she said.

While acknowledging that infrastructure deficit and geographical coverage limitations has previously limited the progress made in achieving financial inclusion in Nigeria, Branka said that 9PSB’s key mitigating strategy is to create synergies between agent banking as an important driver of financial inclusion and a superior product mix.

She explained that, “9PSB will deploy a wide distribution network that will serve as a channel for financial education for rural and low-income consumers. This will enable them to conduct basic banking services like cash-in and cash-out transactions.”

The management of Hope PSBank-a subsidiary of Unified Payment Services Limited and Nigeria’s premier digital-first bank has assured customers-unbanked, underserved and banked of its readiness to deliver seamless digital banking experience to them as part of efforts targeted at promoting and driving financial inclusion in the Nigerian banking ecosystem.

The assurance came during the launch of the company’s brand identity on Tuesday,  in Lagos following the approval of licence as a Payment Service Bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in August 2020.

Speaking at the launch, Lagos State Governor who was represented by the Commisioner of Finance, Rabiu Olowo commended  promoters of Hope PSBank for making dream of a digital bank a reality, stating that the state government is committed to creating enabling environment for such innovation to thrive.

Also speaking at the event the Minister of  Communications and Digital Economy, who was represented by Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, described the launch of Hope PSBank  as  a game-changer in the banking sector that would not only reduce operational cost drastically but also bring about transformation in the banking system

In his opening remarks at the occasion, the Chairman, Hope PSBank, Alhaji Shehu Abubakar described the launch of Hope PSBank as one that would not only revolutionalize the banking sector but help a great deal in shaping and advancing the future for financial services generally in Nigeria.

Abubakar noted that it was heartwarming that a new bank like Hope PSBank was stepping into the fold to give banking access to millions of Nigerians including those that are unbanked.

He explained that the setting up of the bank was largely driven by the need to ensure that a vast majority of Nigerians have access to financial services.

The bank Chairman noted that its logo represents the optimism and dependability which the brand espouses. “It is not just semantics that the name of our bank is ‘Hope’, rather this is symbolic as we bring the message of hope to millions of Nigerians that are unbanked or underserved,”, Abubakar explained.

He revealed that the payment service bank offers a unique and unparalleled experience for customers as the wallets/accounts are opened end to end without any human intervention.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Hope PSBank, Mr. Ayotunde Kuponiyi expressed the company’s aspiration to give hope to Nigerians. He stated that the bank is ready to redefine financial and payment services by driving inclusion through the leverage of digital technologies.

Kuponiyi added that the setting up of the bank was in line with the objective of the Central Bank of Nigeria to enhance financial inclusion.

“When the inclusion rate in an economy is high, the citizens of that economy will have access to credit/finance, will be able to save, have access to insurance, grow cottage industries, employ more staff, unemployment rate is reduced, the employment citizens are able to pay tax, government will have more revenue to provide infrastructure and this will and generally improve the standard of living of the citizens,” he said.

He explained further that beyond financial inclusiveness which the bank hopes to achieve, it would serve as a platform to empower the people with many becoming agents thus leading to job creation and alleviation of poverty.

“We support Medium Small and Medium Enterprise(MSME) and Small and Medium Enterprise(SME) with our Hope Market Place by giving them an “online real estate” to display their shops thus giving them more visibility and exposing them to more consumers,” Kuponiyi said.

By Collins Nweze

Interswitch, a technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Africa, has announced its partnership with Finastra, a financial technology (FinTech) firm  to deliver innovative, world-class technology-based solutions for digital payments, corporate banking, treasury and trade finance, to financial institutions in Africa.

The partnership will enable Interswitch to deliver on its vision to transform Africa’s wholesale and transaction banking business by building world class products and solutions, thereby, delivering innovative and trusted technology to banks and the communities they serve.

With this strategic partnership, Interswitch becomes Finastra’s lead technology partner in the Nigerian market. This enables Finastra to bring the broadest set of financial software solutions to financial institutions in Nigeria and across Africa, in conjunction with Interswitch’s strong understanding of the local banking and payments landscape, as well as the ability to deploy solutions across these markets.

Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer at Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, said the company is committed to continually explore opportunities, including partnerships, with leading brands such as Finastra, to deliver world-class technology, innovative products and digital solutions to African financial institutions.

He said: “Our partnership with Finastra is consistent with our strategic growth plan and we both share the vision of deepening access to financial services by providing world-class technology and innovative solutions. The partnership enables Finastra to seamlessly deploy its technology in this market. For Interswitch, we will be leveraging our proven success and expertise in delivering transaction banking solutions to support Finastra in localizing and implementing their technology in this region.

The partnership positions Interswitch as the go-to business for financial solutions, including

treasury and trade solutions, to banks and other financial institutions in Africa. Two of the

Finastra solutions now available via Interswitch include Fusion Kondor and Fusion Trade

Innovation.

Head of Partner Ecosystem MEA & CIS at Finastra, Hamid Nirouzad,  said, “Interswitch has a proven track-record of delivering solutions to commercial banks, as well as a strong understanding of the local banking landscape across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. Finastra is committed to providing its solutions to financial institutions across the world, and partnerships such as this result in successful projects, with rapid delivery at reasonable cost.”