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Tag: banking

  • Banking in a Fintech era

    The influence of Financial Technology (Fintech) in providing financial services to consumers is rising. This shift in consumer behaviour towards digital channels and growing acceptance of FinTech start-ups’ services by banks’ customers are threatening the lenders’ control of market share. COLLINS NWEZE writes that only tech-savvy banks will share from new revenue streams   flowing from fees and commissions to Fintechs.

    Simon Michael, 40, was leaving home for work when his smartphone beeped with a familiar Facebook message alert. It was a reminder for him to pay for movie club viewing of Chief Daddy held at the Silverbird Cinema, Ikeja City Mall, Alausa on December 20.His 10-year-old daughter, Daniella, had reminded him the previous night of the payment and the need to take the family to the show. Two payment options came to his mind. The first was to pay through internet banking platform. The other option was to use the Paga network.

    Few minutes later, he went for the Paga option. Paga is one of the Financial Technology (Fintech) firms providing mobile money and digital payment services to consumers. FinTech is the new technology and innovation that compete with traditional banking methods in the delivery of financial services.

    As little as the N100 fee from the transaction seems, it represents one of the millions of revenue leakages facing commercial banks in this digital era. Paga now has over 7.5 million customers in just nine years of its operation and processes $160 million transactions monthly.

    A few years ago, Michael could not have imagined paying for the movie ticket online without going to the banking hall or visiting one of the designated payment supermarkets in Lagos.

    Another bank customer, Lucy Stephens, chatted endlessly on her two mobile smart phones as she waited on a long queue in Ikeja to withdraw N10,000 at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Then the machine stopped dispensing cash; the long queue disappeared.

    Stephens went into the banking hall where he met a longer queue. One hour later, a customer service officer announced a system downtime.

    “Please, the system is very slow. Kindly give us more time to process your transactions,” the officer pleaded. It took one hour before Stephens was paid.

    Many, like Stephens, are frustrated by the poor quality of service they get from their banks. There are equally a larger number of customers who have lost confidence in the banks’ internet or mobile banking platforms and have switched to Fintech services.

    “Mobile payment is where the world is heading and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind. We do not compete with the banks since our funds are saved with them. But, there are places where we clearly compete, and there are more places where we collaborate to do what we are doing,” Paga’s co-Founder Jay Alabraba, who has been in a rush since taking up the top job nine years ago, disclosed.

    The Paga chief insisted that change was needed because brick-and-mortar approach to banking is expensive and not accessible.

    He said: “Nigerian consumers are changing. They are getting busier with no time to waste. They want to get their services nearer to where they work or live. Shopping is becoming entertainment and recreation while the phone is becoming their most intimate relationship. That explains why we are stepping in.”

    Fintech firms, such as Quick-teller, MoniDey, Baxi, PocketMoni, Unified Payments, Paga and Cellulant, are now part of the financial system, offering banking services to both the banked and unbanked.

    They are also benefiting from the N20 billion vote by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led Bankers’ Committee under the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility (SANEF) project designed to expand financial services access, especially at the grassroots.

    GTBank Executive Director and Digital Banking Head Bolaji Lawal said the SANEF plans to accommodate 40 million low income and un-served Nigerians into the financial system and 70 million Bank Verification Number (BVN)-linked customers’ accounts by 2020. He said the scheme also wants to deepen access to mobile and digital financial products relying mainly on commercial banks and Fintechs.Fintechs are today helping consumers in bill payments, retail payments, airtime purchases and use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions. They also collect payment from all spectrums of the population – whether banked or not.

    With more options available to users of financial services, the competition on which platform to conduct transactions continues to widen.

    An economist and Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said banking industry attractiveness is deteriorating and rivalry intensifying. For him, transaction banking is being threatened and canibalised by leading FinTechs.

    “Bank earnings will be more reflective of reality in the years ahead. Banks will jostle and partner with Fintech companies to mitigate erosion of transaction revenue and mobile payment transactions will be depleted by telcos. Fintech regulation will also tighten in most countries, including Nigeria,” Rewane said in December Economic report released at the weekend.

    Rewane says online transaction is the only thing that seems to matter to consumers.

    CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele sees the rising influence of Fintechs in providing financial services to consumers as a big threat to the banking sector but agrees that it has facilitated expanding access to financial services to hard-to-reach populations and small businesses at low cost and risk.Emefiele believes the Fintech poses enterprise risk management threat to the banking industry. “Banking has a common threat. The enterprise risk posed by FinTech is real and there is need to be at the forefront of sensitising the banking sector about the real threats posed by FinTech,” he told top bankers during a meeting organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos. He said the apex bank would be reviewing the regulatory framework for Fintech operations to protect customers using their payment platforms.The Senior Director for Digital Solutions for Visa Sub Sahara Africa, Geraldine Mitchley, said with 17 per cent of people in Africa having access to formal financial services, almost a third of funding raised by African startups in 2017 was in the Fintech sector. ”With over a hundred million dollars invested over the past 10 years alone, the region’s Fintech industry is on the brink of a transformative breakthrough, and we believe the time is ripe to bring together its brightest minds and work on the next big idea in payments technology.  With a clear goal of enabling cashless economies and financial inclusion, Visa is committed to fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and driving innovation in its payments landscape,” she said.But, it is not just Paga that is making banks rethink their continued existence, since technology firms crept into some businesses traditionally meant for the lenders. Social media platforms, e-commerce providers, and mobile money services, technology payment firms have brought new twists to how banking is done.

    The Managing Director, Cellulant Ghana, Albert Ngumba, said his firm facilitated payment for agricultural value-chain, helping Nigerian farmers to buy fertilisers, paying through Cellulant platform instead of banks. Famers can also perform financial transactions, including savings, transfers, loans, micro insurance using its platforms.

    “We sit between the banks, mobile operators and merchants. We power payment and make transactions easier for the people,” he said.

    He added: “Our wallet account holders can now enjoy the convenience of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards to take out money from a machine and buy products or services. They don’t have to carry cash because they can get it from almost any ATM machine and pay bills easily and quickly.”

    Also, Remita, an e-payment solution developed by SystemSpecs and which helps the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), has reduced government’s debt servicing costs, lowered liquidity reserve needs and boosted effective use of surplus cash.

    “Remita processes over $30 billion transactions every year, and that’s just within Nigeria,” SystemSpec Chief Executive Officer John Obaro disclosed.

    Other platforms that have taken chunks of banks’ businesses and profitability are: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space, Tumblr, Instagram, Alibaba, Jumia, Konga, Supermart, Amazon, Square, Cellulant, Apple, Google, Visa and MasterCard.

    An Executive of the Research and Policy Department, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Kabir Katata, said digitisation has changed financial services landscape.

    To him, FinTech firms are latching on clear evidence that consumer behaviour and expectations of service and experience are changing.

    He said the take-off of e-commerce and emergence of fast-rising online outlets, such as Jumia, Konga and Supermart, are opening up new avenues for e-payments and data collection that were previously left for banks.

    Speaking at a media conference organised by the agency for finance reporters in Kano State, Katata described FinTech as a technologically-enabled innovation in financial services that could result in new business models, applications, processes or products with an associated material effect on the provision of financial services.

    He said: “Multiple technologies poised to drive the next wave of financial services are converging in maturity. FinTech threatens to disrupt financial markets with the banks taking the threats like the loss of control, the emergence of a non-regulated environment, market fragmentation, and loss of revenue—very seriously.”

    Katata disclosed that while many banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels and digital service offerings, recent shifts are threatening the customer base of those yet to key into it. Even long term banking relationship at traditional banks, he added, is susceptible to disruption.

     

    Fintech/ banks as

    partners in progress

     

    In a research report, Senior Manager, Management Consulting, KPMG Nigeria, Bode Abifarin, disclosed that one-third of Nigeria’s population is below 24 years. The implication is that with a growing middle-class population, internet penetration and usage, which are the backbone of FinTech firms, the sector is set to grow significantly.

    Abifarin said: “KPMG survey shows that 77 per cent of Nigeria’s banking customers now use social media for personal purposes. The problem is that Nigeria’s banks have largely failed to translate this passion for the internet and social media into increased adoption of internet and mobile banking solutions and that is what FinTech firms are leveraging on.”

    SystemSpecs Executive Director Deremi Atanda said Fintech would not lead to the death of banks because they work in a collaborative ecosystem.

    “One party cannot do it all alone. We are going to be working with regulators, banks and other financial service providers and generally everyone focused on seeing transactions thrive,” he said.

    According to him, 70 per cent of FinTech transactions are centred around remittances and lending as they do not take deposits like commercial banks.

    Pointing out that it was not unusual to see regulators clash with FinTech innovators, Atanda said regulators must ensure that technology being adopted does not have unintended consequences that challenge what they saw in creating those things.

    A director with the CBN, ‘Dipo Fatokun, said the demand for the services of FinTechs would continue to rise.

    He noted that the increasing roles of FinTech companies in the payment system would allow banks to focus more on their traditional role of financial intermediation.

    Fatokun predicted the rise in the need for collaboration between the FinTechs and banks, as none can displace the other.

    The CBN director explained that banks in developed world focus on their core functions and leave other roles to service providers.

    Fatokun said: “FinTechs have always been in existence. It’s just that more prominence is being given to their roles. In some jurisdictions, FinTechs are being allowed, or plans are under way to allow them connect to the central bank which, previously, was the exclusive preserve of the commercial banks.

    “The fear has always been there that Fintechs will take over the roles of the banks and that a time will come when there will be no bank. FinTechs are not licenced as financial institutions, they cannot take deposits. They can only facilitate payments or make it easier but the banks will still continue to play a very big role.

    “Banks provide hundreds of services outside of payments. They open Letters of Credit (LC), give out loans and you can only give loans if you take deposits. The banks provide guarantee, either an advance payment guarantee or a performance bond for contractors. For you to do that, you need to be a licenced financial institution.”

    According to him, FinTechs have played a complementary role for the baking industry and that have made it possible for banks to provide services at cheaper rates and expand their services to the grassroots.

     

    Banks innovates/ partners

     

    As banks’ revenues fall, the lenders are looking at areas to bridge the gaps. There is the zeal to raise cheap funds, finance power sector projects, mortgage, agricultural and educational businesses.

    Some banks have also gone into Facebook banking, social lending and partnership with global payment and technology firms.

    For instance, Wema Bank has introduced Alat, a fully digital platform, to enable it capture the grassroots customers and the youths.

    Besides, FirstBank, Fidelity and Union banks have partnered with PayPal to enhance online payment for shoppers. The partnership enables the lenders’ customers to register for a PayPal account from their internet-banking accounts.

    By linking their-issued debit, prepaid or credit cards to their new PayPal account, customers can then shop and pay on millions of websites around the world from their personal computers, tablets or smartphones, without having to share financial information with the seller.

    The GTBank Instant, First Instant and Sterling Social Lender accounts were built by GTBank, FirstBank and Sterling Bank to enhance social banking. Here, customers can open accounts online, and that creates convenience for them.

    For instance, Sterling Bank’s Social Lender Account allows it to grant loans to customers on Facebook. It provides a platform for online fans, followers who are customers of the bank to obtain micro-credit loans via social media starting with Facebook and Twitter.

    Mercy Obi, a customer who benefitted from the loan, narrated her experience: “While going to Yaba some days ago, I had no cash in my wallet. I needed cash badly. My cheque book was not even with me. I couldn’t find my bank branch around because I wasn’t familiar with the area.

    “So, I tweeted at the handle of my bank. The response was swift. In 10 minutes, my account was credited with N3, 000 short term credit. That is how interesting banking has become.”

    Likewise, Access Bank Plc, Visa and shoptomydoor.com, an online shipping company, are collaborating to give Visa cardholders opportunity to shop online at retailers in the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK) and China.

    Such customers, the bank’s Executive Director, Personal Banking, Victor Etuokwu, said, will also enjoy exclusive shipping discounts and shop from the world’s major international retailers with more flexibility and convenience.

    The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc introduced Leo, a chat banking personality on social media platforms.  The bank launched the product in collaboration with Facebook, as the transaction is carried out on the Facebook Messenger. The chat banking has already taken off in the Facebook Messenger.

    Group Managing Director/CEO UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, described Leo as a solution developed with people’s lifestyles in mind. He described Leo as the UBA Chat Banker who enables customers make use of their social media accounts to carry out key banking transactions.

    The transactions, he said, are done through mobile phones, which he said have become synonymous with modern day banking.  He explained that with Leo, one’s banking needs become easy and as simple as chatting.

    As he unveiled the character of Leo, Uzoka stated:  “Leo being an intelligent personality will give you feedback instantaneously as you transact your business on the platform. It is a solution that is from the customer’s standpoint and is easy to use by anyone”.

    Highlighting how mobile phones have become critical part of people’s lives, he said: “We now live on mobile devices, laptops. You can forget your wallet for a whole day, not your mobile phone”.

    He said with the launch of the chat banking, customers will be able to open new accounts, receive instant transaction notifications, check their balances on the go, transfer funds and airtime top up. They will also be able to confirm cheques, pay bills, apply for loans, freeze accounts, request for mini statements, amongst other things.

    Diamond Bank Plc, which is undergoing merger plans with Access Bank Plc, also launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot.

    The Chatbot named Ada uses AI technology to provide a human-like interaction and personalized experience for Diamond Bank customers. GTBank and FirstBank have also launched Chat banking.

    Financial pundits believe that banks do not fear other lenders but the start-up in a bedroom. Managing Director, CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Tunde Popoola, said deepening the financial landscape creates room for new players to emerge.

    Popoola said: “When the financial system is deepened, the banking industry will be the ultimate gainers. The good thing is that people now have more choices to make. It is only banks that key into the new opportunities that will benefit.

    “But, if they are able to innovate, and device ways of seeing their customers not necessarily coming to the banking halls, but getting the services they need wherever they are, then, they will be the gainer at the end of the day. Lenders that are unable to get to their customers through some of these forms and processes will lose the market.

    “Organisations such as Paga, Cellulant, are all part of what we are expecting. More of them will come. We have those who are in the telephone territory. There are those in the credit card territory and they are not formal banks. These are the things that will become the formal feature of our economy.”

     

    Risks associated with Fintechs

     

    It not all rosy for FinTechs and bank customers when it comes to e-fraud. Banks’ loss to cyber-crime has hit $700 billion annually worldwide, President/chairman of Council, chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Uche Olowu, said.

    He believes that despite the  benefits provided by Fintech, there are heightened risks of cyber threats and fraudulent activities with Nigerian banks alone losing N198 billion annually.

    He said criminal activities, such as credit card fraud, phishing, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraud and identity theft, have increasingly become threat to banking operations.

    “Statistics put the cost of cyber-crime globally at $700 billion annually, a figure projected to rise to about $2 trillion by 2019, due to the rapid digitization of consumer lives and company records. In the case of Nigeria, about N198 billion is said to be lost to the ever-increasing cases of cyber-crimes per annum usually perpetrated through the financial system,” he said.

    He said identity theft is on the rise due to the adoption of digitized platforms globally. The ease at which personal data could be illegally harvested is now more sophisticated than ever. As a suggestion, I implore all banks to invest further in user education of customers on possible threats with remedies for mitigating such threats. I also implore banks to further employ the use of Intelligence systems and tools such as Predictive Analytics solutions to determine irregular activities on bank accounts which have been compromised or inconspicuous fraudulent activities.

    “Regulation is key to the Fintech ecosystem as it will ensure that the full range of benefits available from the digitisation of the economy, especially the financial sector, are safely harnessed while minimising the attendant risks. It is worthy of note that the Federal Government has put in place several measures to deter the activities of cyber criminals. Initiatives such as the Risk Based Cyber Security Framework released in June, 2018 very are commendable,” he added.

    Certainly, today belongs to Fintechs. But lenders with readiness and understanding of the changing dynamics in providing financial services, especially on the need to strengthen their digital payment infrastructure, can still eat their cakes and have it.

     

  • Report: Banking access lowest in Northeast, Southeast

    •Southwest leads in financial access

    NorthEast and Southeast regions have the least access to banking, a report on financial access touch-points released yesterday has shown.

    With five per cent financial access touch-points for the Northeast and seven per cent for the Southeast, both regions remain disadvantaged in access to financial services despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bankers’ Committee and commercial banks to take banking to the grassroots, the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility (SANEF) report has shown.

    The CBN has voted N20 billion for banks, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), licensed Mobile Money Operators and Shared Agents to accelerate financial inclusion and take banking to more Nigerians.

    Southwest is leading on financial access touch-points with 54 per cent; Southsouth 12 per cent; Northcentral 11 per cent and Northwest 10 per cent. It said Nigeria has 5,600 bank branches, 17,600 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs); 15,000 Point of Sale terminals and 51,754 Agents as at December last year.

    A member of Technical Committee of SANEF, Bolaji Lawal, said the SANEF initiative involves on-boarding 40 million low income and un-served Nigerians into the financial system, increasing financial access points from the current 50,000 to 500,000 by 2020 and deepening access to mobile and digital financial products and services such as savings accounts, microloans, insurance, pensions by Nigerians.

    He explained that the project seeks to deepen financial inclusion through an integrated ecosystem with strong regulatory oversight, consumer protection and interoperable payment systems with limited concentration risk. “It will create a platform for Nigerian owned financial services companies to grow, whilst empowering and creating jobs for Nigerians. So, wherever you see the SANEF sign, you can perform basic financial services such as account opening, cash deposits, cash withdrawals, funds transfers and bills payments,” he said at a media briefing in Lagos .

    He said the project is expected to reduce transaction costs, bring about convenience, create job opportunities, and increased adoption of financial services. The platform is also expected to handle government’s social disbursements initiatives. It will also lead to reduced cash dependency, better tax collections and reduction in crime rates.

    He said the SANEF will help the banks achieve 70 million Bank Verification Number (BVN) Bank Accounts by 2020 from about 34 million at present.

    He explained that Nigeria’s financial inclusion model is similar to Indian model, where over 1.2 billion people gained access to financial services.

    He said that BVN roll-out is aggressive with NIBSS already partnering with Agent Managers appointed by banks, Other Financial Institutions, Mobile Money Operators, Super Agents and other licenced Nigerian companies for remote BVN enrollments. NIBSS will ensure training of Agent/Managers to ensure proper hand-holding as may be required for the BVN enrollment process.

    “NIBSS is expected to provide the BVN enrollment devices for the agents. Remote capture devices will be made available to agents across Nigeria particularly rural areas with priority for North East, North Central and North West. NIBSS will pay N100 to agents for every unique BVN enrolled and targets 40 million unique BVN by 2020,” he said.

    He said BVN enrollment in 774 Local Government Areas across the country will commence in September and that Nigeria had adopted the Indian financial inclusion model where over 1.2 billion people are uniquely identified.

    He said the Nigeria target is to achieve 70 million BVN target by 2020 and create more access to financial system especially at the grassroots.

  • ‘I have no regret leaving banking for painting’

    After a successful solo debut of Colour on my mind at Mydrim Art Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos five years ago, Ronke Aina Scott is returning to  the gallery with another solo effort tagged And she persevered. It is a build-up from her last show, which was a reflection of her mood and fascination by colours and a way to encourage other women show their talent. Scott has evolved a stronger and distinct style of celebrating culture and women.

    And she persevered, which will feature about 30 acrylic paintings and mixed media at the Weave and Co. Gallery, MoorHouse Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos on August 4, is a summary of her journey into the arts in the past 20 years since leaving Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife. “Expectedly, most of the works are on women, because ‘I celebrate women, our culture and I love warm colours,” she said.

    Works for display include Wazobia; Glorious homecoming; Looking forward; Women in business; African mask; African damsel; And she provides and Behind the mask, among others. Central to the works is her effective use of lines and warm colours, which characterise most of the paintings. Scott’s current body of works does not only show her penchant for cultural motifs and values, but it also reflects her feminist inspired themes. However, the subjects are not far from her last show, except for the improved strokes. And she persevered, will be curated by Moses Ohiomokhare, and will run for two weeks at Weave and Co Gallery, Moorhouse Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    “For women artists, irrespective of the challenges, they should not give up. They should forge ahead.Even if you are not recognise, continue to do what you believe in,” she said of her love for women empowerment and promotion.

    The former employee of Fidelity Bank Plc is not losing any sleep for abandoning her bank job since 2014 to pursue her passion and dream. She recalled that after leaving the banking industry, she contacted some studio artists, who encouraged her. Beyond that, she did some researches on trendy issues in the sector to keep abreast with the goings on in the creative sector. So far, she has pledged to stay and fulfill her dream.

    “Art has always been my passion. Even while in the bank, I knew there was something missing. Art might not give me the huge pay, but it is giving me fulfillment. I can work till 3am and not feel bad because I love what I am doing. If I get oil and gas job today, I will likely not accept because it will not give me the joy.

    “Until I left the bank, I always acknowledge the fact that there was something I love doing that I left undone. Anything that has to do with design gives me joy,” she said, adding: “The lesson I picked from bank is discipline. If I don’t get up to paint, I will not get anything done. Sometimes, I don’t feel like painting, but the end result moves me to forge ahead.”

    She continued: ”This discipline helped me to produce lots of works for my first solo while still in the bank. As tired as I might have been, I still found two hours to paint when I return from work late.”

    Since leaving school, Scott has worked in the media and related fields where design is a major job. Although, she was out of studio practice until four years ago, but she did not feel rusty. “I really had no lost ground these years. Though you may feel rusty, but for your talent, you can  catch up. In fact, I encourage myself just as some mentors were also encouraging me. Nsikak Essien is one of them. Given another opportunity to make a choice, I will travel this road again because I love art. Unfortunately we are always scared of the unknown thinking white collar job is better,” she noted.

    She described her work process as end to beginning because ‘I have a visual picture of my work in my head. I like to explore different things around art. I like to be dynamic, to be different. I am not too comfortable with art school identity or tag’.

  • ‘Banking, others need digital operations to thrive’

    Group Managing Director of SO&U limited, Udeme Ufot has called on banks and other companies to embrace digital technology to enable them understand and know how customers think, act and connect with one another. This, he said will lead to better output and improved customer relations.

    Speaking at the Marketing Edge national stakeholders summit in Lagos, on the theme: Marketing Paradigms in the Age of Digitalization, he challenged organisations to be more receptive to digital innovation.

    “Today, technology is democratising information with its wide spread. At the click of a button, the consumer can have virtually whatever information he needs, even those he does not seek are forced on him. At the click of a button, he can literally transport himself to any market he desires, compare offerings, and negotiate the best deals for himself. If he is unhappy with the service he has received, or disappointed with the performance of your brand, he can spread easily the word globally in a matter of seconds”

    “Today’s consumer not only receives information, he is a disseminator of information, and co-creator of the brand. Today’s consumers can contribute to building your brand into the most loved and trusted in its category, and can also destroy your brand in seconds. The consumer has become a communication vehicle and given “word of mouth” a new dimension I can describe as “word of finger”. The customer has transformed into a most unexpected and powerful creature, one that you offend at great peril to your brand” he adds

    Ufot challenged agencies to maintain relevance by familiarizing themselves with the transformations in the market place and leading clients through the digital space by taking a deeper look at how they practice marketing through all the various stages, from ideation through to strategy, internal processes and systems to implementation in order to effectively communicate, connect with and profitably satisfy the needs and desires of customers in the Digital Age.

  • Global Standard in Banking to release ethics report

    The Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB) has announced the release of the first banking standard for bankers across the world.  The document is part of efforts to promote ethical standards as well as provide the foundation for high-quality and consistent education for bankers worldwide.

    The standard, according to the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Seye Awojobi, was made public by GBEStB Education Committee and Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute Chair, Simon Thompson.

    Thompson explained that the new standard consists seven key recommendations, which all GBEStB member bodies must comply with. In his words: “This first standard on Ethics Education and Training for Professional Bankers sets out our expectations of and guidance for GBEStB member bodies in terms of general recommendations and recommendations for the content, delivery and assessment of ethics education for professional bankers.”

    The recommendations, he added, included the general recommendations regarding ethics education and training; key ethical principles for professional bankers; content of ethics education and training programmes; delivery of ethics education and training programmes; assessment of ethics education and training programmes; impact measurement (of the Standard) and public declaration.

    He further disclosed that a consistent approach in the promotion of ethical standards and education of professional bankers worldwide would help develop a strong ethical culture within the banking industry, thereby improving financial stability.

    Mr Thompson asserted that the Board, which brings together more than 20 banking institutes, has commenced the implementation of the Ethics Education and Training standard from June 1, 2018.

    Mr Awojobi called on all banking practitioners, regulators and other stakeholders to endorse and support the GBEStB initiative, to ensure Nigeria’s compliance in line with global best practices.

  • Taking banking to women entrepreneurs

    Banks with eye on the future are taking steps to provide services that meet the business needs of women entrepreneurs. Access Bank Plc has organised ‘Power Breakfast With W’ where its Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, met with leading women entrepreneurs for a feedback on the lender’s services. He promised to ensure that women-led businesses not only get credit, but also learn how to build sustainable businesses that can be passed to the next generation, reports COLLINS NWEZE.

    That women control a large portion of global wealth is no longer news. From oil and gas, banking and fashion to agriculture and education, women have proven their mettle in the business world.

    Women-led businesses constitute a large part of banks’ balance sheets and stream of income. Access Bank Plc last week met with many leading women entrepreneurs, seeking a feedback on its services and how the bank could serve them better.

    The meeting titled: Power Breakfast Meeting with W, which was held at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, was attended by women entrepreneurs.

    Access Bank Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Herbert Wigwe said the lender would continue to support women-led businesses in funding, training, and provision of tailor-made banking services.

    The bank chief also disclosed that lending to women presented little or no risks to his bank as they have over the years paid back their loans.

    Wigwe said the lender has not recorded any bad loan from the several loans it granted to women-owned businesses, adding that the bank started the ‘W’ Initiative to empower women and women-owned businesses to succeed.

    He said: “When women are involved, things get better. The ‘W’ Initiative is to empower and inspire women. We do not even have one per cent bad loans for supporting women. We are committed to ensuring that women succeed in their businesses”.

    He said the meeting was to enable the lender listen to the women and identify their business needs to meet them.

    The bank CEO also discussed financial literacy for women, training and workshops for start-ups, business succession plan and business sustainability. He said: “Allow your children to pursue their passion. There is no guaranty that your children will be interested in your line of business. All you need is to train them to succeed in their areas of passion.”

    Ruff n Tumble CEO, Nike Ogunlesi, told the guests that they were with the right bank. She said Access Bank has always supported her business.

    She spoke on how the bank, through Wigwe, helped her acquire her dream building, adding that the bank has been consistent with its support for women-led businesses.

    Also, Access Bank Group Head, Retail Banking, Opeyemi Wemi-Jones, said the bank’s ‘W’ Initiative has been a huge success and will continue to guide women to success in their fields of endeavours.

    Continuing, she said: “We are the bank for women. We are going to create tomorrow together. We are into offshore investment services, private banking offerings. Our Evergreen Account waves all charges in the personal account of women from 60 years old and above. But if the account holder borrows, she will also pay charges on the loan.”

    She said the ‘W’ Initiative has helped many women build businesses and planned their business succession scheme to enable them hand over their businesses to the next generation.

    She said: “We are also introducing more women to private banking. Our card services can also allow you attach your card to your children studying abroad. Our Family Fortune Promo has also helped many families own their homes and cars among other winnings”.

    Wemi-Jones said the ‘W’ Initiative was part of the bank’s efforts to offer women exclusive access to a wide range of lifestyle-oriented value added benefits and privileges.

    According to her, part of the privileges for women and their families under the initiative includes access to a comprehensive range of loan product and credit facilities; access to ‘W’ community with helpful advice on family and finance matters, home and family articles and details of special offers; access to a wide range of great discount, special offers and freebies on health, beauty and fitness.

     

    Capacity building for women

    Access Bank’s W Academy, in partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Lagos Business School (LBS) has also organised a professional business capacity-building workshop for 500 female entrepreneurs in Port-Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos.

    The events were held across the three states in the last four months and served as the third, fourth and fifth editions of the second season of the bank’s Womenpreneur Business Workshop training.

    Wemi-Jones said, “Since 2006, the bank has maintained its commitment to drive women’s economic empowerment in the nation. The Womenpreneur Business Workshop is intended to educate and enlighten  women on the fundamentals in business which will eventually help them attain their full potential.”

    The Womenpreneur Business Workshop, a flagship training of the W Academy under Access Bank’s W Initiative, is designed to address the lack of access to entrepreneurial skills, finance, networking, and management skills; which are the key barriers to women’s economic inclusion.

    Its objective is to provide a discounted and practical capacity building programme that exposes female business owners to the nation’s economic reality as well as help them simplify processes and hone the requisite skills needed to grow their businesses.

    So far, over 2,300 business women in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu have benefited from the workshop with testimonials around increasing their business network, improving their business model and are thriving through the economic constraints with ease.

    This first-of-its-kind workshop is highly discounted and targeted at small and medium scale women entrepreneurs. Wemi-Jones disclosed that plans had been concluded to hold the next editions of the workshop in Kano and Ibadan in July and August.

     

    Family banking

    Access Bank is also helping its customers to build financially-secured and savings-driven families through its ongoing Family Fortune promo, which has empowered over 5,000 families and created wealth for the people. The scheme gives savers the opportunity to earn higher interest on their savings and also get rewarded for their loyalty to the bank. The exercise aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) financial inclusion mandate and determination to take banking to the grassroots.

    Last year, Celestine Ikwuka Obinabor, was announced winner of a four-bedroom terrace house in Lekki, Lagos in the Family Fortune promo organised by the bank.

    Obinabor was one of the 12 families that won different prizes at the first mega draw of the promo held last year in Lagos. Another winner, a woman who planned to spend her Christmas in Sokoto state, won the family vacation in Dubai prize. Another winner, a man that has used his car for seven years and was on his way to the mechanic workshop, won the brand new Kia prize among other exciting prizes.

    Speaking at the mega draw, Access Bank’s Executive Director, Business Banking, Mrs. Titi Osuntoki, said the lender gives priority to its customers.

    She said the bank felt very proud and fulfilled when the joy and excitement of the winning customers were shared. “We feel very proud and fulfilled. We normally keep our customers at the centre of whatever we do. As you can see today, we are delighted to have put smiles on the faces of customers. We gave out life-changing gifts to 12 families. We have a family that lives in Okota, in Lagos, and they will be moving to Lekki, Lagos before Christmas for winning a four bedroom duplex,” she said.

    Continuing, Osuntoki said customers have the opportunity to keep their money with the bank, and get superior returns because the lender pays them interest that is higher than what they could have gotten on a normal savings account. “On a normal savings account, the customers would have gotten interest of four per cent. We are paying them 100 basis points above the savings rate. Aside from the superior returns they are getting from the savings, customers are eligible to participate in mega selection, where they can win fantastic prizes,” she said.

    Access Bank’s Executive Director, Personal Banking, Victor Etuokwu, said the system under which the promo was conducted remains transparent, making it easy for customers to win. He said there are benefits in saving with the bank.

    “You can imagine what has happened to the people that won. It is an indication that good can be done by a bank. It elevates our faith level in the country. Family that saves together stays together. All is not bad in Nigeria. There are Nigerians that do the right thing, and Access Bank is one of them,” Etuokwu said.

    On the promo, Wemi-Jones said the promo which comes under the lender’s family savings scheme, was designed to reward the collective savings habit of families with grand prizes and competitive interest rates while they enjoy the confidentiality of their banking transactions as individuals.

    She said the bank wants to encourage people to cultivate savings culture and reward those that do so. According to her, the draw was the first monthly random selection in the family savings promo adding that savings is not a respecter of an individual’s earnings ability, but a habit to be cultivated.

    Wemi-Jones said the chances of a family winning is very high. adding that all the winners met the promo criteria which include achieving a minimum balance at the qualifying level of N150,000. The fund is required as a cumulative balance across Family Members account. However, each account must maintain a minimum balance of N20,000 to qualify for the Family Fortune Promo.

     

     

     

    Financial inclusion

    The scheme is the bank’s contribution to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) financial inclusion project, meant to bridge the huge gap between the banked and unbanked.

    The CBN’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) was created to cut the percentage of adults excluded from financial services from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent by 2020 with specific targets for payments and promotion of savings culture.

    Access Bank is taking major step to ensure that more Nigerians embrace financial services as it believes that  having at least 80 per cent of  adult Nigerians have access to affordable financial services as well as the right environment within which to flourish economically will boost the country’s  development profile. The bank also believes in providing incentives that makes banking more attractive to family and their friends.

     

  • Bogus banking

    The announcement by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) that it would be commencing an investigation of some Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for their failure to submit full returns on dismissed members of staff involved in fraud cases underscores the need for the nation’s banks to maintain the highest ethical standards.

    The NDIC claims that it was moved to act because its off-site supervision revealed that fraud and forgery cases had increased significantly, with 320 cases of fraud caused by internal abuse reported in 2017, compared to 231 in 2016. Twenty- six responses from banks in 2017 showed that 26,182 cases occurred last year, compared to 16,751 in 2016. The amounts involved rose to N12.01 billion from the N8.68 billion reported in 2016, although the actual amount lost in 2017 was N2.39 billion as against N2.37 billion in 2016.

    The main sources of fraud were internet/online banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and card-related, together accounting for 92.68 per cent of all related cases, and representing N1.51 billion or 63.66 per cent of all losses in 2017.

    It is clear from these figures that insider-related fraud in banks is increasing significantly, and while not all of them can be attributed to the connivance of staff members of banks, they are involved to a worrying degree. This is where the refusal of some banks to make full returns on such staff to the NDIC becomes troubling.

    The corporation claims that 22 licensed commercial banks and four merchant banks made 286 returns on workers dismissed for their involvement in forgeries and fraud. It is unclear whether the NDIC is saying that this figure is incomplete, either in terms of the reporting banks or the number of returns, but if it feels that the situation is serious enough to warrant investigation, then there is a problem.

    It is a problem whose gravity cannot be underestimated. Nigeria’s banks play a pivotal role in the nation’s economy, especially in the mobilisation of savings which are injected into viable projects by way of loans. Their ability to perform this function efficiently is critically dependent on public perceptions of them as trustworthy organisations founded on an unwaveringly ethical approach to doing business.

    Such trust is eroded when increasing numbers of staff members are involved in fraudulent activities; it is further worsened when the banks themselves decline to make full disclosure to the NDIC, whose remit it is to see that they are keeping to the rules that guarantee their solvency.

    Banks have not helped matters, with many garnering unsavoury reputations for fleecing their long-suffering customers through outrageous bank charges, ludicrous foreign exchange and interest rates, and often-cumbersome online transactions. If money cannot be kept at home because it is intrinsically unsafe, and supposedly “secure” banks are vulnerable to fraud from their own employees, customers are placed in an unwelcome situation of double jeopardy.

    The country’s banks know the value of reputation more than anyone else. It is therefore incumbent upon them to develop strategies which ensure that their integrity is never in question. The answer is not in producing glossy advertisements which make improbable claims to ethical conduct and efficiency; the NDIC’s announcement only underscores their hollowness.

    Banks can truly prove their worth when they subject themselves fully to regulators like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NDIC. These agencies are charged with the task of keeping banks honest, regardless of whether it is convenient for them to do so or not.

    All banks should fully cooperate with the NDIC’s impending investigation and provide full details of their members of staff who were dismissed due to their involvement in fraudulent activity.

    Incidentally, the practice of quietly letting most indicted staff go without handing them over to the police for prosecution is yet another way in which banks put themselves ahead of public interest. The protection of their own reputations appears to be more important than the punishment of criminal acts which often cause great distress to the victims.

     

  • Govt, stakeholders to deliberate on banking reform

    Top government officials and stakeholders in the economy will on Monday, March 12, converge at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, to unveil a book meant to chart the way forward to revamp the banking sector.

    The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, will lead the guests that will brainstorm at the gathering, which will take place at the public presentation and launch of the book, “Banking Reform in Nigeria: The law, The Prospects and The Challenges,” written by eminent scholar, lawyer, chartered banker and influential member of the House of Representatives,  ‘Bode Ayorinde.

    Other top government officials expected at the occasion include Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who is  Special Guest of Honour; Chief Justice of Nigeria Hon. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, Minister of Finance, among others, will also grace the event.

    The book traces the historical development of banking business in Nigeria and critically examines all the laws relating to banking since inception.

  • Dangote Cooperative to diversify into real estate, banking, others

    As part of efforts to raise its revenue profile the management and board of the Dangote Group Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (DANCOOPS) has set machinery in motion to diversify into real estate, micro credit and loans, among other business ventures.

    Making this disclosure at the weekend was the President of the Society, Comrade Afolabi Kamoru. He spoke in Lagos at the Society’s 10th Annual General Meeting.

    Kamoru, while giving account of his stewardship in the last two years, said his executive team has been able to change the fortunes of its members thus far from a humble beginning.

    Specifically, he said: “As big as the Society is, we just secured, renovated and furnished an office space and within a short period we have been able to perfect a few things for the Society. Aside from that, we have a landed property in Mowe, with construction about to start.”

    At the end of the financial year, ended December 31st, 2016, the DANCOOPS boss said, “The Society closed its books with surplus figure of N122, 369, 545, 43, which represents an increase of 46.38% over the last year’s profit.’’

    Expatiating, he said: ‘’There was reduction in the interest rates to cushion the effects of the economic hardship on members, payment of unclaimed dividends as well as savings increased by N390m with both dividends and net surpluses increased by over 48%.’’

    He also hinted of plans by the Society to acquire properties in strategic areas for business purposes, adding: “Already we have sent business proposals are being discussed and finalised with the SBU’s to establish Sales points of all brands of Dangote products for members. The Society is also planning to delve into finance scheme in the next two years.

    “What we are looking forward now is from now to the next two years, we want to woo all Dangote staff to be members of the Cooperative. For a Society which started in 2004 with just 400 members and now 10, 000, our target is to grow it to about 15,000-20,000 members in the coming years,” he stressed.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Comrade Odetunde Oluwole, two time president of the Society, said plans are in top gear to commence construction at Obajana in Benue state, Move in Ogun, Lokoja in Kogi state respectively.

    “In Lagos state, we are planning to construct a housing estate, which we are about to commence. We already have Certificate of Occupancy, layout and approval. It’s just to move to site,” he said.

    DANCOOPS, according to Oluwole which is made up of the following federating units namely: Dangote Industries Limited (Holding company), Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Dangote Four Mills, Dangote Oil Refinery Company Limited, Dangote Fertilizer Company of Nigeria Plc, National Salt Company of Nigeria Plc (NASCON), Dangote Cement Plc, Dangote Agro Sacks Limited, Dansa Foods Limited, A.G Dangote, Dangote Sino Truk West Africa Ltd, is also determined to branched into microfinance banking and other businesses as part of efforts to invest in lucrative ventures for the benefit of its members.

    The highpoint of the occasion was the election of new executives to lead the affairs of the Society. Among those elected include, Afolabi Kamoru, who was re-elected as president, Olabode M Ojo, as Vice President, Lukmon O Yusuf, Treasurer, Bature Farman, as General Secretary, Chibueze Nwaeze, Assistant General Secretary.

    Others include: Blamoh Adewale, as Assistant Financial Secretary with Ex-Officio as follows: Alh Isa S Musa, Oladipupo O Funsho, Ashonibare Ade.

  • Tackling unethical issues in banking

    Tackling unethical issues in banking

    The rising cases of fraud and unethical practices in the banking industry are throwing up new alliances. One of such partnerships, aimed at curbing the menace and exposing participants to the value of trust and professionalism in the banking/investment industry, is the Universities’ Ethics Challenge organised in Lagos by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society Nigeria in collaboration with FirstBank.  COLLINS NWEZE, who covered the event, reports.

    The banking/investment industry is riddled with insiders’ abuses. In many instances, bank officials have been abused of colluding with outsiders to defraud customers of their deposits, a development that has unsettled some players in the in the industry.

    In a move to curb the trend, restore depositors’ confidence and ensure entrenchment of global best practices in the industry, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has collaborated with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society Nigeria to train local accounting undergraduate students in key varsities. The training in Universities’ Ethics Challenge was staged in Lagos.

    The CFA Society Nigeria programme curriculum covers the skills needed by financial sector players at all stages of their career. It is expected to help participants understand current industry practice in ethical and professional standards and to provide a strong foundation of advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills to them.

    The students of business-related faculties from five of Nigeria’s premier universities – University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, took partook in the final of the 2017 edition of the CFA Nigeria Ethics Challenge in Lagos.

    The 2016/first edition winner, UNILAG, won the competition again and it was presented with the trophy at the CFA Nigeria Award Dinner at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah and his Finance counterpart, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, joined the First Bank’s Group Executive (Treasury & Financial Institution), Ini Ebong to present the trophy to the winning school.

    According to the Chartered Financial Accountants (CFA) Society Nigeria President, Banji Fehintola, most of the graduate school programmes cover a broad range of topics. He explained that the CFA programme focuses specifically on investment knowledge.

    Fehintola said the CFA programme provides the skills needed to succeed, describing the CFA charter as the demonstration of commitment to required excellence of investment professionals.

    The vision of the CFA Society Nigeria, Fehintola said, is to build an investment industry that will thrive on trust. “I always say that the reason investment industry exists is because people have capital, and are looking for people to help them invest the capital. If those people do not trust you, then there is a problem. If the people who have the capital do not believe that you have the competence and professionalism to invest their money in a proper way, then there is a problem.

    “That is why ethics is very important. Here, we spend a lot of time inculcating ethics in the industry, and now we are taking it a notch higher at the Universities Ethics Challenge.

    “What about the people coming to the industry in the future, why don’t we start talking to them now? That’s why we do university programmes, trying to expose them to these things when it is still very early, before their minds are polluted. That helps, so that when they come into the industry, they are coming with the proper ethical standards that will make the industry to thrive”.

    He said the CFA is a think-thank advocacy group working to improve the industry ethical standards.

    Fehintola said: “We are not regulators, but we have very good relationship with regulators. It is the duty of regulators to enforce discipline where there are ethical breaches in the investment industry. But what we are doing is helping even the regulators to do their jobs better.

    “As we speak to you, we offer lots of scholarships to regulators in Nigeria to write the CFA exams. I was recently in Abuja, where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Part of the MoU was to work with SEC to promote ethics and professionalism in the capital market as well as Nigerian companies.

    “So, we are very close to regulators, and hoping that what we do with them will help them do their jobs better and for them to enforce compliance to ethical standards in the industry. Our members are obliged to comply with all these ethical standards and every year, to renew their membership, they have to attest that they have complied with all these ethical principles. And if they fail to do that, we will withdraw their charter.”

    Speaking on the ethical standards set by the CFA Society Nigeria, Fehintola said there are seven ethical principles. “The seventh one is about internal house-keeping. It reflects on our duty as members. The first one talks about professionalism, which means you must have good knowledge of the law. The second one talks about the integrity of the capital market, and I think personally, that’s the most important, because once the capital market stops functioning, there will be problems because it will be difficult to mobilise the needed capital to grow the economy.

    “And what we are doing is to start talking to varsity students’ right from when they are still in school before they even come into the investment industry – to start inculcating in them the ethical principles that we think will make the industry to be sustainable in the long run. So, that’s the overall objectives.

    “The programme started last year with two universities as pioneer participants and was expanded this year, accommodating seven schools, and is projected to expand more in the coming years.

    “This year with the support of First Bank, we had seven schools participating. Last year we had two. “If the people begin to think that the market was rigged against them in favour of the few people, the market will collapse. The third one is that we have duty of loyalty to our clients and things like that, also conflict of interest, among others.”

    Commenting on the assessment of the students’ performance at the competition, the Publicity Committee Chairman of CFA Society Nigeria, Ayokunle Ojo, pointed out that the students were able to identify a number of ethical challenges.

    He said the challenges ranged from misconduct, not understanding the law and lack of adequate supervision, adding that the issues of lack of integrity in the capital market as an adviser were spotted out by the participants.

    According to Ojo, as an adviser, “you are supposed to uphold the law and do the right thing in dealing with your clients. You are supposed to put the interest of your client above the interest of your employer and above your own personal interest.

    “If young people are aware of the dilemma that we face as members of the capital market and if they understand in a clear way how to deal with those issues, it then means that when they start participating, either as employees or as captains of industries, they will be able to make the right decisions. And if we’re all making the right decision then the financial industry and the capital market will improve and that would impact on the society at large.”

    A 300 level student of Babcock University, Economics Department, Jesudiuto James, said although his school did not come among the top five, he achieved his objective for participating. He said the students analyzed the issues in the case study and provide recommendations.

    James said: “We participated in Ethics Challenge organised by the CFA Society Nigeria. There were seven schools and our schools was one of them. We were asked to identify ethical violations in the case study. There was an industry conference, where a lady identified that a particular participant, an asset manager was very visible, and was receiving a lot of attention from other participants.

    “On that basis, she recommended her to be hired by an asset manager. And that was the only reason she gave. And based on the CFA Code of Ethics, that was not enough for her to use as a yardstick to recommend him for hire.”

    He said the recommended candidate might be receiving attention for the wrong reasons, hence the need to consider other reasons before hiring.

    Bright Mgbemena of the UNN team said that featuring in the ethical challenge was phenomenal in his life as a potential player in the industry, saying the experience surpassed his expectation.

    He said: “When I heard of the CFA Society ethic challenge, I was thinking it was going to be a mere challenge not knowing it was going to be this outstanding. The programme has really impacted on me and my fellow students. You know ethic is very important for the growth and sustainability of an organisation.

    “Abiding by or contravening ethical rules of a company determines its survival in the industry. Because you have to make investment decisions, recommending whether there will be a sale or a buy with the company’s stock. This is not something for the moment; it’s something we believe will take us to places.”

    Appreciating the impact of the programme, Faculty Adviser, UNN Ethics Challenge Contingent, Tony Orji, said the ethical challenge was a good way of encouraging the students to imbibe good professional ethics, noting that, it has given a lot of experience and exposure to them.

    He said: “It’s a good way of raising the students’ standard because the foundation of any building matters a lot,” Orji said. These students have come and learnt about the professional ethics and conduct. In the near future they will be the investors, advisers and financial analysts.

    “And, having learnt this good ethics, they are going to enshrine it into their professional conduct. Also, as a faculty adviser, I have learnt a lot. So, bringing my students here was not a waste at all. On this note, I commend CFA Society and First Bank for creating a platform where these young ones can be exposed early to ethical issues in the capital market.”

    One of the participants and member of the UNILAG team, Seyi Akindutire, described the programme was a learning point for him.

    Akindutire said: “I think I’m going somewhere from here; I’m going home from here with the best in my heart. Inculcating this ethical habits and conducts and internalising it is going to change our perspective about the industry and make us to be discipline as individuals in the finance industry.”

    The Head of Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability at First Bank, Ismail Omamegbe, explained the essence of the bank’s partnership in the programme to reporters.

    He said the programme was in line with an aspect of the bank’s institutional values and purpose of existence. These, according to him, were their belief in corporate governance, ethics and integrity.

    “And we do think that we have to demonstrate this as well; so it’s not just believing,” Omamegbe said.

    He noted that the bank had impacted positively on the society as part of the nation building.

    Omamegbe said: “But we do think that when you have to build institutions you have to build from the scratch, you have to be able to lay certain foundation. And we believe that the CFA Society and CFA Institute is a global organisation that focuses on integrity and ethics and research, and one of the ways to help them do that is to partner with them to get this done.

    “The second aspect is to actually demonstrate our commitment. We have a Chair at the University of Lagos on business ethics called the ‘Samuel Asabia Chair for Business Ethics’. It’s basically an aspect of the sustainability agenda. The key thing we believe in as an organisation is that ethics is very important and, if you don’t have integrity there is something wrong.

    “And we believe that the university students for example are the young ones that are going to take over the institutions in the future. So, how do you create a platform where they can inculcate these values – the value of ethics and the belief in ethics; and actually demonstrate it later in life? So, we’re supporting CFA to be able to build the foundation with these young ones.”

    Speaking on the event, FirstBank Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Folake Ani-Mumuney asserted that bank’s corporate responsibility & sustainability focus areas of People Empowerment and Education are in line with CFA’s promotion of educational excellence.

    She said: “Core to our educational interventions is the Bank’s Endowment programme which has instituted professorial chairs in academic fields in several universities across our geopolitical zones and also facilitated infrastructural development in some of these universities to complement government’s efforts in educational development. FirstBank remains committed to partnering with initiatives that will drive the sustainable development of education in our nation.”

    Universities ethics challenge

    The Universities Ethics Challenge is one of the educational outreach programs designed by CFA Society Nigeria for universities’ students. The event was exclusively sponsored by FirstBank as part of the bank’s commitment to ethics, professional excellence, capacity building and inclusive growth of Nigerians, while the event also underpins the Bank’s core values of entrepreneurship, professionalism, integrity and customer service.

    FirstBank’s corporate responsibility & sustainability focus areas of people empowerment and education are in line with CFA’s promotion of educational excellence. Core to the bank’s educational interventions is the bank’s endowment programme which has instituted professorial chairs in academic fields in several universities across the geopolitical zones of the country whilst also facilitating infrastructural development in some of these universities to complement government’s efforts in educational development.

    The CFA Universities Ethics Challenge exclusively sponsored by FirstBank fits into the theme of one of the bank’s endowment programmes in Nigerian universities – The Samuel Asabia Chair for Business Ethics at the University of Lagos.

    The Ethics Challenge took place at FirstAcademy, FirstBank’s strategic platform for competence development, knowledge management and workplace culture change, and the final results of the Ethic Challenge was announced during the CFA Society Nigeria’s 2017 Charter Award Dinner on November 12, 2017 at the Grand Banquet Hall, Civic Centre, Lagos.

    Seven universities participated in the 2017 challenge comprising of five students and one faculty advisor. Each participating university will be given an identical case study that focuses on ethical issues and problems that are prevalent in the local financial market and the global best practices in dealing with ethical dilemma.