The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • e-payment scheme users rewarded

    Customers of Ecobank Nigeria, GTBank and Diamond Bank are the maiden winners in the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

    At a raffle draw in Lagos, Adeyinka Adejuwon, a GTBank customer won N100, 000; Julie Chioma Ukwosah,  an Ecobank customer, N50,000 and Jerry Boakye-Mensah, who uses Diamond Bank, N15,000.

    Head, Acquiring Cards and e-Banking Department, Ecobank Nigeria, Funso Oyelohunnu, praised the CBN reward initiative, stressing that it would further encourage the use of e-payment channels.

    She noted that the emergence of Ecobank customer as one of the winners of the draw attested to the efficiency of the Bank’s e-payment channels. “This is a great initiative. As a bank, we are glad that one of our customers is one of the winners. This is a further proof that our various e-payment channels are efficient. This is an opportunity to urge both customers and non customers of the bank to make our e-payment channels their choice,” she said.

    Speaking during the redemption of prizes in Lagos for the first three winners, representative of the Banking Payment System Department of the CBN, Isah Abubakar, said the apex bank will keep giving the desired support for the EPIS project. He praised the transparent process used in selecting the winners, noting that the cash-less banking initiative is helping to promote financial inclusion and getting banking to the grassroots. “The CBN is behind the incentive scheme and will support any project that takes banking to the grassroots,” he said.

    Executive Director, Business Development at NIBSS, Mrs. Christabel Onyejekwe said it was the need to drive universal usage of electronic payments in the country that prompted the management of the CBN to approve an industry-wide incentive scheme and awareness campaign for electronic payments for stakeholders and users.

     

  • Access Bank gives N11b facility to women-owned businesses

    Access Bank gives N11b facility to women-owned businesses

    Access Bank Plc has empowered businesses run by women with loans worth N11 billion within one year of introduction of its “W” initiative.

    According to the lender, a breakdown of the disbursement shows that N9 billion was given out to women-owned businesses, while N2 billion was disbursed to individuals.

    The bank, during the year under review, recorded 40 percent growth portfolio with 500,000 women banking with it.

    The bank’s executive director, personal banking, said: “July this year, we celebrated one year of “W” initiative, and it has done quite well. We just started and we have gotten attention of this sector”.

    He disclosed that the lender will, in December this year, under its W- initiative, celebrate women who had surpassed all odds to achieve success. The bank has therefore, created four awards category for women whose contributions to the national economy.

    The first category is women entrepreneurship of the year award. This is an award for the woman entrepreneur who has a well-defined running business. The second category is young professional of the year award. This award is for women between 25 and 35 years, who stand out in their profession. The third and forth category are seasoned professional of the year award and Amazon of the year award.

    While the seasoned award will go to a woman who has seen it all and who has done great things, a special woman who has been able to combine family and business effectively will clinch the Amazon award. The award, according to the bank’s executive director, is part of women empowerment and inclusive programmes of the bank. Presently, the bank is requesting for nominations of women that merit the criteria for any of the award categories.

    ‘W’ Initiative of the bank offers privileges to women and their families to a variety of products, including access to a comprehensive range of loan products and credit facilities; access to the ‘W’ community with helpful advice on family and financial matters; home and family articles and details of special offers, and access to a wide range of discounts, special offers and freebies on health, beauty and fitness.

  • Sterling Bank’s ‘Get ready for work’ initiative to support SMEs

    Sterling Bank’s ‘Get ready for work’ initiative to support SMEs

    Sterling Bank has said its ‘Get Ready For Work’ initiative for this year will be extended to entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses to enable them add more value to  their enterprises.

    The bank’s Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Abubakar Suleiman who disclosed this yesterday in Lagos, said apart from getting the youths ready to pursue their career choices and helping them acquire the required skills, the lender will also through the programme, reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

    Suleiman, who spoke ahead of this year’s edition of the event coming up on the September 11, said that Get Ready For Work’, now in its third year, is the bank’s way of giving back to the society and equipping the youths with the right skills to succeed in their jobs.

    He also said the lender is considering extending its ‘Get Ready For Work’ initiative to more states of the Federation and encouraged other banks to join in the project.

    He said that the lender was committed to helping to reduce the high level of youth unemployment in the country, pointing out that there would be serious consequences for the society if the problem is not addressed.

    According to him, “There is no country in the world that would not be affected by a high level of youth unemployment. Once youth employment stands above 25 per cent in any country, that country is heading for chaos.”

    He noted that the problem of youth unemployment in the country had been  made worse by the fact that  what students  are taught in schools  these days  often  leaves  them ill-equipped to handle simple tasks  when they eventually secure employment.

    Speaking at the event,  Executive Director, Field of Skills and Dreams VTE Academy (FSD)  Omowale Ogunrinde,   commended Sterling Bank for investing in the future of youths in country through the initiative.

    According to her, the bank was responsible for organizations like hers agreeing to take part in the programme without charging participants professional fees. Last year the bank held the ‘Get Ready for Work’ concert in Ibadan which was designed to change the mindset of graduates towards entrepreneurship and equip them with skills to bridge the gap between employee expectations and employer requirements.

  • NESG summit to focus on growth

    The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), a private sector funded think-tank, in partnership with its public sector counterpart, the National Planning Commission (NPC) is set to host the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit.

    Secretary, National Planning Commission, Bassey Akpanyung, said the summit has become the largest and most prestigious annual economic forum for policy makers and captain s of industry from the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, as well as representatives of the academia, civil society organizations and development partners.

    It provides a unique opportunity for the participants to interact and share thoughts on the key issues and challenges facing the Nigerian economy, with a view to evolving a common strategy and policy frame work for addressing them.

    The programme is scheduled to take place from 13th – 15th October in, Abuja. The theme of the summit is: “Tough Choices: Achieving Competitiveness, inclusive Growth and Sustainability”.

    Akpanyung said the summit is coming at a unique time in the history of Nigeria when regardless of recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebasing exercise which placed the country as Africa’s foremost economic power.

    He explained that with the estimated GDP of $536 billion in 2014; the current macroeconomic space is characterized by a continuous decline in international oil prices, weakened public finances, foreign exchange crisis, weak institutions, insecurity weak infrastructure and high youth unemployment rates with attendant negative impacts on the nation’s competitiveness index.

    The summit will examine and facilitate stakeholders’ consensus on the tough choices that need to be made in order to achieve competitiveness and inclusive growth in a sustainable way, through measureable outcomes.

    It is therefore expected that the summit conclusions will be crucial in defining the agenda that will help in making Nigeria’s socio-economic environment globally competitive. The summit has been structured to include presidential policy dialogue where His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to lead a conversation which will focus on key strategic elements required to make Nigeria globally competitive.

  • FRCN investigates Stanbic IBTC over unapproved transactions

    FRCN investigates Stanbic IBTC over unapproved transactions

    The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) has said it is investigating Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc for allegedly engaging in unapproved transactions with its foreign technical partners in the last four years.

    Its Executive Secretary/CEO, Jim Obazee, who spoke yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with the Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, said the Council was responding to a petition written by shareholders of the bank “drawing the attention of regulatory authorities to some unapproved transactions conducted by the bank with its foreign technical partners. The petition from stakeholders, is on issues relating to the way they have been accruing some monies in their account.”

    The bone of contention however is whether Stanbic IBTC properly disclosed these accruals into its account which is what the FRCN is investigating.

    The accruals he said, “must be disclosed properly and they (Stanbic IBTC) require NOTAP approvals before they can make those payments. Now the person petitioning is saying that there is no need making those accruals because IBTC has not being able to secure NOTAP approval.”

    Obazee maintained that “the petition kept coming and then we invited Stanbic IBTC to hear their side of the matter. And having listened to their side of the story, we believe that the petitioners have a good case.”

    In line with its investigation, the FRCN chief said the Council will be meeting with regulatory agencies, such as the “NOTAP which will give the approval, Central Bank of Nigeria as regulator and Security and Exchange Commission because they (Stanbic IBTC) are asking for general mandate for the treatment of third party transactions which we were against because that will not be in line with related party transactions accounting standards.”

    Efforts to reach the Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mrs. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo were unsucessful as her phone was switched off. However, a source within the bank, who asked not to be named, said the lender cannot comment because the case is in court.

  • Firstmonie, MMIT partner on int’l payments

    Firstmonie, MMIT partner on int’l payments

    Firstmonie, the mobile money platform of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, is partnering with Mobile Media Info Tech Global Limited (MMIT) to commence a mobile wallet.

    The product would allow consumers to purchase services on international merchant websites, the lender sai, adding that the initiative is expected to enable online purchases, and download apps through the Firstmonie platform.

    Leveraging on its expertise in electronic payments, FirstBank said it is constantly exploring innovative ways of enhancing its service offerings to ensure products are well suited to its existing and potential mobile subscriber base.

    With the upswing in digital applications, Firstmonie subscribers can now directly pay for applications download from their mobile wallet. This has eliminated the limitation posed by daunting payment process, especially for the youth market, many of whom have no access to international payment cards and have been un-served within the global ecommerce space.

    CEO of MMIT, Kim Fraser said: “MMIT is very excited about the launch of services with FirstBank’s mobile wallet. The ability to use an African based mobile wallet to transact with international merchants is a first in the alternative payments space, and MMIT is very proud to be working with First Bank of Nigeria on this initiative”.

    Acting Head of Mobile Financial Services at FirstBank, Celestine Okobi,  further asserted that the Bank is proud of this innovation which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

  • Chams Mobile, Skye Bank launch Visa virtual card

    Chams Mobile, Skye Bank launch Visa virtual card

    Chams Mobile Limited, a licensed Mobile Money Operator, and Skye Bank Plc, have launched the first Virtual Visa Card in Nigeria. The virtual Visa card is an entirely digital payment card for online and mobile use, both locally and internationally. The card is unique in that cardholders get a full card image (the Virtual card) on their mobile device, PC, or tablet, with a plastic card offered as an option if customers prefer.

    The new payment system is expected to expand financial inclusion to millions of Nigerians by offering a low cost mobile banking solution, as the card is issued free and linked to a broad range of financial services. It also offers an online payment alternative for eCommerce savvy individuals, small businesses and corporate companies, membership associations, and more.

    The new Visa Virtual card is available under the Kegow brand at www.kegow.com.  Kegow is the program and card brand of Chams Mobile Ltd. Deputy Managing Director Chams Mobile, Mr. Gavin Young, said that he was excited to partner with Skye Bank and Visa on this unique and ‘First in Nigeria’ Visa Virtual Card payment solution, which was developed with the company’s international joint venture partners Bancore AS (as the mobile financial services processor) and Global Technology Partners (as the Visa prepaid card processor).

    “It’s unique in that customers actually see an image of their card on their mobile phones, tablets and PCs, whereby all the essential features of a physical card are shown in it’s ‘Virtual form’; card number, expiry date and CVV number, for example. This, for many customers, negates the need for a physical plastic card, although we offer plastic cards as an option for customers requiring such.”

  • Keystone Bank gets ISO certifications

    Keystone Bank gets ISO certifications

    Keystone Bank has obtained two certifications from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The certifications are the ISO 20000 for IT Service Management Systems (ITMS) and ISO 27001 for Information Security System (ISMS).

    The certification attests that the bank aligned with world class standards in protecting customer information and providing stellar services to its stakeholders via efficient and effective use of Information Technology.

    It was issued after a rigorous audit exercise conducted by the British Standard Institute (BSI), in keeping with the lender’s vision to be the preferred partner to its customers via the use of Information Technology.

    According to the Executive Director, Operations & Technology, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei “Keystone Bank is committed to following global best practices and standards in all its operations because we believe our customers should be assured of consistent service delivery, convenience and reliability.

    “These certifications also give our stakeholders increased confidence and confirms the security of information and information technology service at all levels.”

    Mrs. Isichei also said “With this, customers can be assured that we have put processes in place to protect the information that they give us.”

    The British Standard Institute (BSI) recognizes companies that have implemented systems and structures that ensure their operations are in line with international best practices.

  • Ecobank, Global Fund, fight Malaria with $3m

    Ecobank, Global Fund, fight Malaria with $3m

    Ecobank and the Global Fund are in financing partnership programme to enable the fight against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS. The programme is designed to strengthen the financial management skills of the scheme implementers in Nigeria, South Sudan and Senegal.

    Ecobank has pledged $3 million towards the scheme.

    During the second phase of the programme, which officially kicked off in Abuja yesterday, six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which battle TB and HIV/AIDS in Nigeria will receive extensive onsite training over the next 12 weeks.

    Head of HR, and CEO of the Ecobank Foundation, Julie Essiam, said: “This unique partnership demonstrates the commitment of African institutions like Ecobank using their own resources and knowledge to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development across Africa. Aligned to our vision & mission to develop Africa, at Ecobank, we help develop the communities we serve.”

    Technical training will be delivered by Ecobank Nigeria and through the placement of Accounting for International Development (AfID) consultants, who are all members of the Nigerian Diaspora taking time off to volunteer on this specific project.

  • ‘CBN’s policy ‘ll promote local self-sufficiency’

    The Managing Director,  Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Dr. Graham Heifer, has said the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on forex only affected businessmen asking for waivers especially on palm oil.

    He said granting waivers by previous administration has affected oil palm production in the country negatively.

    Heifer who spoke with reporters said granting waivers was unfair because some people have to pay duty while others got waiver to bring in things and it affected the industry negatively.

    The Okomu Oil chief said the CBN policy offered local producers of oil palm to produce more as well as an opportunity for others to invest in the business.

    He said his firm has purchased 12,000 hectares of land in Ovia North East Local government Area of Edo State with a view to expanding production to meet market demands.

    He said: “We produce palm oil here locally and we have the market already. The CBN’s directive is good for us. It does not stop people from importing because some can still pay the duty but if you want to import now, you cannot (raise foreign exchange) through the CBN. You have to go to parallel market.