The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

FCMB PayPad makes its debut

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited has unveiled a Mobile Point of Sale (MPoS) terminal, which it has aptly tagged FCMB PayPad.

The product, the lender said, is in demonstration of its commitment to further support the growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and the success of the cashless policy initiative in Nigeria.

It described the product as a portable device that allows merchants securely process payments in a seamless manner, driven by a robust mobile application on a smart phone or tablet.

The product, it added, can easily be customised to suit the needs of merchants which could entail inventory management or airtime vending. The device can be obtained from any FCMB branch across the nation at no cost to the merchant.

The FCMB PayPad provides a more secure, simple and efficient payment solution to merchants in the Nigerian market. “It easily synchronises with any smart phone or tablet running the customised application that is freely downloadable from the app store. The benefits of the device, includes availability of transaction details via SMS, email and paper print and long lasting rechargeable battery which ensures fewer recharging frequency. It is also portable (smaller than a mobile phone) which makes handling very convenient,” it said.

FCMB’s Executive Director, Service Management and Technology, Mr. Nath Ude said the robust nature of the product makes it very reliable for secured transaction processing for merchants that run mobile businesses and also for small, midsize and large merchants.

He added that, ‘’it is also the device of choice for businesses in the e-commerce space that operate door-to-door delivery and need secured payment processing’’.

Mr. Ude continued by saying, “the FCMB PayPad is truly a payment device that will revolutionize how secured payment processing is done in fixed locations and on-the-go.

It is one of the innovative products from FCMB designed to enhance customer experience across all touch points and help merchants to grow their businesses in a sustainable manner,’’ he said.

February 16, 2015
Overnight rate falls on liquidity boost

The overnight interbank lending rate fell to 12 per cent from the previous day’s record high of 100 percent, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) refunded naira to dealers who were unsuccessful at its dollar auction.

Dealers said a N30 billion budget allocation to some government agencies was also credited through the banking system, boosting liquidity.

Banks’ balance with the CBN stood at a credit of N123 billion, from N52.3 billion in credit previous day. The CBN has been tightening liquidity and intervening directly with dollar sales to commercial lenders to support the ailing naira, hit by falling oil prices.

Nigeria may have its credit rating cut as lower oil prices and political uncertainty weaken Africa’s largest economy, Standard & Poor’s said.

Meanwhile, three-month naira-dollar historical volatility climbed to 21 percent on Wednesday, the highest since March 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 3.3 percent in September and an average 8.4 percent over the past 12 months. The naira weakened as much as 2.3 percent to N204.10 per dollar and traded at N204.05.

The S&P said it is reviewing Nigeria for a possible downgrade, indicating there’s more than a 50 percent chance for the country to lose its BB- rating, or three steps below investment grade. The move came one day after it cut a group of oil producing countries including Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Venezuela and lowered the outlook for Saudi Arabia to negative.

“The decline in oil prices has a significant impact on the outlook for Nigeria’s external position,” S&P’s analysts led by Ravi Bhatia wrote in the statement. “Political risks also remain significant.”

February 12, 2015
Banks in Free Trade Zones get tax, duty waivers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it would henceforth grant tax and duty waivers to banks operating in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs).

CBN Director, Banking and Payment System, ‘Dipo Fatokun, who made this known in a circular, said the incentives will further the apex bank’s mandate for the development of banking operations in the country.

The incentives, contained in the guidelines for banking operations in FTZ released yesterday, include freedom to move funds in and out of the zone on all eligible transactions, exemption from stamp duties on all its documents, exemption from withholding tax deductions on interest payable on deposits, dividends and royalties and exemption from corporate and capital gains taxes.

The lenders, Fatokun said, will also be exempted from payment of duties on imports of furniture, office equipment and other facilities necessary for its operations; and any other incentives as may be approved by the CBN, from time to time.

He said only banks or financial holding companies licensed under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), or licensed foreign banks, shall qualify to apply to the authority for approval to establish presence to carry on banking business in Nigeria’s FTZs.

The CBN Director said the provisions of the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) Act, Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Act, BOFIA, CBN Act, and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Act and all guidelines and regulations issued pursuant to these Acts shall apply to banks operating in the FTZs.

“Without prejudice to the powers of NEPZA to grant Licenses, no enterprise shall carry on banking business in any FTZ in Nigeria without a prior approval granted to the parent bank and banking license granted to the subsidiary by the CBN. The required minimum paid-up capital to operate in FTZ of Nigeria shall be $10 million, or such other amount as the CBN may from time to time prescribe. In addition, a bank in the FTZ shall meet all the prudential requirements as may be specified from time to time by the CBN,” he said.

Fatokun said a bank in the FTZs shall disclose to the CBN, the equity interests of its directors and key officers in any enterprise in the zones within 14 days of acquisition of such interest.

He said a licensed bank in the FTZ may accept deposits; grant to any person, advance, loans, or credit facility, or give any financial guarantee, or incur any other liability on behalf of any person; make remittances of funds abroad or to Nigeria Customs Territory on behalf of any non-resident; undertake any other foreign exchange transaction as may be prescribed by the CBN, from time to time; and carry out any other activity that may be approved by the CBN.

However, the CBN stopped such lenders from sourcing foreign exchange from the official foreign exchange market of the Nigeria Customs Territory; opening an account for a customer in contravention of the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) principles; undertaking any other transactions which are inimical to the interest of the FTZ; and any other activity that may be specified by the CBN or other relevant authorities, from time to time.

Also, banks within the FTZs are required to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended) and the Central Bank of Nigeria AML/CFT Regulations for Banks and Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria, 2013.

The sources of funds for the lenders include deposits from non-bank customers such as Multinational Corporations, International Corporations, Non-resident or resident persons or entities, approved Enterprises in the FTZs, Regional Financial Agencies or Institutions and Euro-Money Markets; Inter-bank borrowing within the FTZs or with foreign banks; Export Proceeds; Equity Capital; and Such other sources of funds as may be approved by the CBN from time to time in consultation with the Authority.

February 12, 2015
Dealers halt trading as naira value falls

Dealers yesterday pulled the plug on electronic trading in the naira after it slid past the key level of 200 to the dollar on fears the postponement of this week’s election could trigger a constitutional crisis.

Deploying for the first time a ‘circuit-breaker’ agreed among themselves last month, leading banks in Lagos halted trade after the naira dropped more than two per cent. At its weakest, it was quoted at a record low of 204.25 to the dollar, a decline of 20 per cent since the start of November.

The rout has been driven by the combination of a tumbling oil price and a rise in political risk, highlighted by last Saturday when authorities pushed back the February 14 presidential election by six weeks, blaming it on insurgency accentuated by Boko Haram militants.

It was not clear when normal naira trading in might resume. Although the halt is meant to calm nerves, it undermines Nigeria’s credibility as a smoothly operating capital market and could trigger its ejection from a key JP Morgan emerging market bond index.

In the year after Nigeria joined the index in October 2012, foreign bond-holdings jumped from $1.2 billion to $5.4 billion, but JP Morgan said last month Nigeria’s inclusion was under review because of a lack of market liquidity.

Ejection from the index would trigger major capital outflows because investors who track it would have to sell Nigerian bonds. That would exacerbate a budget crunch in Abuja by removing an important source of funding and further hammer the currency.

In another sign of strain on the financial system, the rate banks charge each other for overnight lending spiked to 100 percent this week as the central bank sucked up naira to support the currency rather than continuing to leak foreign reserves.

February 12, 2015
Bank of Agriculture gets new MD

A new Managing Director has been appointed for Bank of Agriculture (BOA). He is Mr. Babatunde M. T. Sadiku who has assumed office in acting capacity. He takes over from Dr. Mohammed K. Santuraki, whose tenure ended last September 26.

Sadiku was, until his appointment, the Executive Director, Finance & Risk Management, representing the Central Bank of Nigeria on the Board of BOA.

He holds a Masters Degree, Banking & Finance, obtained in 1993, from the University of Lagos. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and the Chartered Institute of Credit Administrators.

His working career started at Nigeria Law Commission and Federal Ministry of Finance in 1983 following which he joined CBN in 1986 as Assistant Manager. He worked for many years and rose to the position of Deputy Director & Head, Sundry Payments Office in the Finance Department and was subsequently seconded to BOA in June, 2012, as Executive Director, Branch Management.

February 11, 2015
Govt supports banks’ access to N220b MSME funds, says Aganga

The Federal Government is supporting banks, microfinance banks and Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) access to the N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Fund, the Minister of Industry Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, has said.

Speaking on a radio programme ‘Fidelity Bank SME forum’ sponsored by the lender, Aganga said government realised that commercial banks were not getting enough of the funds, and decided to set up a committee to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make the fund accessible.

He said government has made some changes to the fund which has led to increase in terms of access to these funds. Aganga said that government is promoting access to finance and market by SMEs to boost the efficiency of the subsector even as state MSME Council is addressing hitches faced by the subsector.

He said that government also wants to see how to link innovation and technology to SMEs to make life easier for operators.

“For the first time in the history of this country, we have a government that is taking MSME as one of the most important sectors of this economy. We have a new programme called the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDP) which aims to remove all the barriers and work on what would enable businesses to grow. For the time in this country, we have raised it to the highest level.

We have an MSME National Council that is chaired by the vice president and has state governors, ministers and agencies on that council. The whole idea is to accelerate the development of this sector, harmonise, have better coordination and institutionalise the support we give to the sector,” he said.

He said government has reduced the cost of registering businesses for SMEs by 60 per cent today and as a result of that we have seen an increase by 52 per cent in MSMEs that are registering and moving from informal to formal.

“I encourage banks to support SMEs. It is not about buying treasury bills and bonds and making 10 per cent, you must be relevant to the Nigerian economy. You must play your role in terms of supporting the growth of the Nigerian economy, you must play your role in terms of job creation. That is the way that other countries are growing and our banks must do the same. Fidelity Bank has taken this to a different level,” he said.

Continuing, he said that government’s SME programme if allowed to run in the next four years, there would be a complete change.

He praised Fidelity Bank’s effort at supporting SMEs. “If you look at the record, the bank is among the top three in terms of banks that are supporting SMEs. Not many of them take that risk, so for a bank to take the risk to support the sector, everyone in the country should encourage them because the most important people in this economy are the micro, small and medium scale enterprises. Fidelity Bank is a good and strong partner of the government in supporting SMEs. In fact, that is why they were appointed as part of the Presidential MSME council,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo said that the lender had at different times, brought different people to the Fidelity SME forum. He said it has gotten to a point where someone from the policy side was needed, and that was why the minister who has been very supportive of SMEs was brought to the forum. He said the forum corresponds with the federal government’s national development strategy.

February 11, 2015
Sterling Bank expands to Shagamu

Sterling Bank has opened a branch in Shagamu, Ogun State. The expansion, the lender said in a statement, is in line with its focus on the retail end of the market and quest to deliver quality banking services to customers.

The new branch is located on Akarigbo Road, the main commercial nerve centre in the city. The Bank has also embarked on the remodeling of about 40 of its branches nationwide to reflect its retail positioning.

The new branch was declared open by Oba Micheal Adeniyi Sonariwo (Akarigbo of Remo Land Sagamu) who was supported by Oba Gisanrin Lasisi Moibi (Oba Odofin Sonyindo Sagamu) and Oba Mufutau Sanni (Oba Aminisan Sagamu)

The lender had towards the end of last year, opened new branches in Festac Town, Owode Onirin, a retail market that deals with motor spare parts along Ikorodu Road, Itire, and Awoyaya all in Lagos. Others are the NNPC Depot in Mosimi in Ogun State, Eziukwu in Abia, Birin-Kebbi in Kebbi, Rumuola and Onne in Port Harcourt and Bank Road in Ekiti.

The new branch is an addition to the Bank’s expanding branch programme just as more locations will be added in the coming months to enable it achieve its 200 mark before the end of the 2015 financial year. The Bank’s total branch network currently stands at 176.

The bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Mr. Shina Atilola, said the opening of Shagamu branch is part of the on-going branch expansion strategy to expand the bank’s operations and branch network across the country to enable it deploy its services to all parts of the country and leverage on this to successfully increase its share of the retail end of the market.

February 11, 2015
IMF praises Ecobank’s capital position

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it is aware of steps taken by Ecobank to enhance its stability including equity capital the lender raised for the group.

A statement signed by Andrew Kanyegirire, said: “IMF staff is aware that Ecobank has taken a number of important and appropriate steps to address these concerns to avoid risks to financial stability.

“The recent news that Ecobank has raised equity capital for the group and announced an equity capital increase to meet regulatory capital requirements in Nigeria, are further welcome steps in the right direction.”

The Ecobank Group also in a statement signed by Group Head, Corporate Communications, Richard Uku, reaffirmed its financial strength and strong governance as a systemically important banking group in Africa. Ecobank has total assets of over $23 billion. As the IMF statement alluded, in the last six months, Ecobank has raised approximately $1 billion in combined equity and debt capital for its parent company and its business in Nigeria, the largest of the group’s affiliates.

He maintained that Ecobank is compliant with regulatory requirements, including those for liquidity and capital across its network, adding that it continues to be supportive of regulatory reforms that make the African banking system safer, more transparent and more accountable.

February 10, 2015
Naira falls on election delay, oil price rallies

The naira opened at record low yesterday on thin trading as the interbank markets digested the news of six weeks election delay by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) due to an Islamist insurgency in the north.

The naira opened at a record low of 194.75 to the dollar, and quickly fell 1.1 per cent to 196.05, compared with its previous close of 193.90 on Friday.

INEC said late Saturday it would postpone the February 14, presidential election until March 28 due to security concerns.

“This is just going to increase the uncertainty in Nigerian markets. While the increased violence is a big concern, investors’ more immediate focus has been on the impact of lower oil prices on the currency and public finances. They need to get some sense of where this currency is heading to make a good judgment call on investments,” Ridle Markus, a strategist at Barclays Plc’s South African unit, told Bloomberg.

Yields on Nigeria’s $500 million of Eurobonds due July 2023 climbed 23 basis points, the most since January 21, to 7.35 per cent.

The naira has slumped 17 per cent against the dollar in the past six months, the most among 24 African countries tracked by Bloomberg. The currency could fall as low as N200 per dollar on Monday, Kunle Ezun, an analyst at Ecobank Transnational Inc., said by phone.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, which is scheduled to sell foreign currency at an auction Monday, may also sell dollars directly to lenders to support the naira, Ezun said.

Meanwhile, oil price rose for a third straight session yesterday as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecast greater demand for crude this year than previously thought and projected less supply from countries outside the group.

The OPEC forecast demand for its oil will average 29.21 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, up 430,000 bpd from its previous forecast, while slashing its outlook for crude supply growth in non-OPEC countries.

Data last week showing the U.S. oil rig count at a three-year low also bolstered prices, which were attempting to find a floor after a brutal selloff in crude that wiped out over half of the market’s value since June.

February 10, 2015
FCMB, House of Tara partner on women empowerment

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited is partnering with House of Tara International to launch an economic empowerment initiative for women known as the Beauty Business On the Go (BBOG). The initiative is aimed at empowering women to become entrepreneurs. The project, the bank said, is in line with one of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focal areas.

In a statement, FCMB and House of Tara explained that the BBOG initiative involves the recruitment and empowering of 5,000 women to become beauty representatives. As beauty representatives, they will be selling multiple beauty brands as part time or full time business, thereby creating job opportunities for themselves. The representatives will be offered trainings, finance, marketing support and other skills necessary to grow their business.

Commenting on FCMB’s involvement in the project, the Head of Communications and CSR, Mrs. Uchenna Mojekwu, said, the BBOG initiative is another demonstration of its commitment towards encouraging women, especially the youth to discover their potentials with a view to aligning such talents with value-added ventures that will make them contribute more to national development.

‘’FCMB as a helpful bank and an institution which caters for all segments of the society, decided to use this platform to further engage women. As catalysts of social and economic development, we believe that by effectively impacting them, they will discover their talent and develop some productive skill,” she said, adding that in this way, they will be working towards the building of a sustainable life.

February 10, 2015