The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Diamond Bank

  • Hyundai Motors, Diamond Bank renew auto financing scheme

    Hyundai Motors and Diamond Bank Plc have renewed their partnership to allow prospective car owners access soft bank loans to procure discounted Hyundai vehicles.

    Payment in the scheme – tagged ‘Hyundai/Diamond Dream Deal’ – will be by monthly instalments, without collateral or management fee.

    Hyundai Motors Nigeria Head of Sales and Marketing, Jatin Nadkarni, said the scheme was in line with Hyundai strategy and direction to make Hyundai vehicle acquisition easy.

    He said customers would aside these benefits enjoy offers, including interest as low as 14 per cent, special prices, waiver of commitment and management fees, free labour and consumables for three months with one Samsung Galaxy Tab for every car bought.

    Describing vehicle credit facility as a common practice in advanced markets, Nadkarni said the initiative is besed on the Federal Government’s National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) aimed at encouraging patronage of new vehicles, particularly home-made cars.

    The company listed some passenger and commercial vehicle models that can be procured during this bonanza as Hyundai i10, Xcent, Accent, Elantra and Hyundai H100 truck with H1 van and school bus respectively.

    He dismissed risk of hidden charges in the liberal credit facility, adding that Hyundai Motors with Diamond Bank have integrated the vehicle acquisition plan to enable more customers, including those without functional account with the bank to embrace the facility.

    “The evolving needs and preferences of prospective vehicle buyers prompted this campaign, which essentially would lessen the burden of owning a car, Nadkarni said.

    According to him, the scheme was designed to discourage used vehicle also known as tokunbo.

    “I still can’t see the wisdom in patronising tokunbo cars that doesn’t come with service history let alone offering value for money; which means, inheriting the liability of a previous user at unimaginable expense. What we are simply doing here in collaboration with Diamond Bank is to help prospective buyers starve-off the burden of sourcing funds to pay for a new car in one fell-swoop,” he added.

  • Diamond Bank, Total Nigeria partner on ATM use

    Diamond Bank, Total Nigeria partner on ATM use

    Diamond Bank Plc and Total Nigeria Plc have partnered to provide Automated Teller Machines (ATM) services at select Total Service stations across the country.

    Speaking at the product launch in Lagos,  the bank’s Director, Operations and Technology, Premier Oiwoh, who represented the MD/CEO, noted that the initiative was aimed at deepening customer satisfaction among customers of both organisations by providing them with convenient lifestyle solutions.

    He said: “We are pleased to flag off this partnership between Diamond Bank and Total Nigeria Plc, two notable, customer-centric brands, that have come together to provide secure and convenient lifestyle solutions to customers in Nigeria.

    “Diamond Bank ATMs are fitted with best-in-class security systems to ensure that users can confidently carry out their financial transactions no matter the area of deployment. Supported by Total Nigeria’s extensive service station network, we are providing our teeming  customers with safe, accessible and convenient centres where they can carry out all their regular ATM transactions using credit cards or Diamond Bank Magic Cash, a cardless alternative to using the ATM for customers who do not have their debit cards,” he added.

    The bank’s Divisional Head, Consumer and Privilege Banking, Aisha Ahmed, said: “As a full-fledged retail bank, Diamond Bank is always inventing new ways to reach our customers and make life easier for them. We believe that the partnership with Total Nigeria perfectly fits this goal as Total shares our core value of top quality service delivery.

    Jeff Nnamani, Executive Director Strategy, Total Nigeria, said: “As part of our continued efforts to provide top quality products and services to our customers, Total Nigeria PLC is glad to partner with Diamond Bank PLC in the deployment of ATM services in select Total Service Stations nationwide. This partnership is in line with our strategy to provide convenient and innovative services that are easily accessible.

     

  • Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Diamond Bank Plc has rewarded 15 customers in its ongoing DiamondXtra Season 8 campaigns.

    The millionaires emerged through a live draw in Lagos, which was witnessed by customers, journalists, the public and the management of the bank.

    Thirteen of the winners won N1 million each while one of the customers won N2 million. Mr. Imoh Udoh from Akwa Ibom State, however, won the star prize of Salary4Life, which entitles him to a monthly payment of N100, 000  in the next 20 years.

    According to the bank’s chief spokesperson, Ayona Trimnell, the DiamondXtra draws is a unique customer reward scheme tied to the DiamondXtra account, which promotes a savings culture among Nigerians, thereby deepening the financial inclusion initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    With a deposit balance of only N5000 in this special account, customers qualify to participate in the draws and multiples of that amount increases the depositor’s chances of winning.

    The Divisional Head, Consumer and Privilege Banking, Aisha Ahmed, said since the bank initiated the special account, it had given its numerous customers unique privilege of enjoying multiple benefits in one account.

    She said: “DiamondXtra was launched in 2008 to reward our loyal customers, both old and new. This event marks the first monthly draw of the new season to commemorate the launch of Season 8 and 15 lucky customers have emerged winners.

  • Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Ten undergraduates studying in various Nigerian tertiary institutions have been rewarded   by Diamond Bank with   N1.2 million for owning   and operating a customized savings accounts.

    The accounts, the bank said, exposes students  to the huge benefits that savings and financial prudence offers in competitive adult life.

    The winners emerged through an online electronic draw, which was conducted  among the thousands of students and youth corps members who opened and operate Student-With-A-Goal (SWAG) account with the Bank since the campaign for PocketMoney4AYear, kicked off.

    The draws were witnessed by journalists, students from various higher institutions in the country and selected Youth Corps members serving in Lagos State. Each of the winners will receive N1,000  PocketMoney4AYear and can draw the cash monthly at any Diamond Bank branch.

    The SWAG proposition is a customised bank account that fits into and enhances the lifestyle needs, culture of learning and freedom of the student and youth corps member with a goal for the future.

    Product Manager, Diamond S.W.A.G, Chinenye Nwosu, said the initiative is designed to ensure  that all   account holders have a   guaranteed  sum   deposited in their accounts every month, stressing that  PocketMoney4AYear  is   a   lifestyle based savings account   targeted at students of tertiary institutions and corps members under the Diamond S.W.A.G proposition.

  • Ecobank, GTBank, Diamond Bank customers get e-payment reward

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

    The winners who emerged during a raffle draw held in Lagos are Adeyinka Adejuwon, who banks with GTBank and won N100, 000; customer, Julie Chioma Ukwosah , an Ecobank customer won N50,000 cash prize while Jerry Boakye-Mensah who banks with Diamond Bank got a N15,000 cash prize.

    Head, Acquiring Cards and e-Banking Department, Ecobank Nigeria, Funso Oyelohunnu, commended 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 attest 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 commended 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.

  • I owe no bank N122m, says Dabiri-Erewa

    I owe no bank N122m, says Dabiri-Erewa

    The immediate past Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, yesterday said she does not owe any bank N122million.

    She said she has no business investment in Thriller Endeavour not to talk of the N122million debt credited to the company.

    Dabiri-Erewa, who made the clarifications in a statement last night, said: “I owe nobody any money, not even myself.”

    The statement reads: “I was thoroughly embarrassed to see my picture on the front page of a newspaper that Thriller Endeavor Company, claiming me as a director, owes about N100million to Diamond Bank.

    [quote font_size=”18″ color=”#f2f2f2″ bgcolor=”#2d5945″ arrow=”yes” align=”right”]I know nothing about the said company, Thriller Endeavor, or its activities, as mentioned in the publication.[/quote]

    “If the company claims I am a director in the said bank, then it has definitely done so without my knowledge and without my permission.

    “If this is the case it’s a case of fraud and will have to be brought to the attention of relevant security agencies, the bank in question, and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “I once again state categorically that the company (Thriller Endeavour) is not known to me.

    “As a very contented person, I owe nobody any money, not even myself.”

  • Diamond Bank votes N6.6b for bad loans

    Diamond Bank votes N6.6b for bad loans

    • Profit After Tax down by 44%

    Diamond Bank Plc has posted  N5.8 billion  Profit Before Tax (PBT) in the second quarter of the year.  But the profit declined by  15 per cent compared to that of the previous year, while Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at N5.1 billion, representing a 13 per cent decrease.

    Analysts at FBN Capital, an investment and research firm, said the decline was caused by a 62 per cent increase in loan loss provisions of N6.6 billion and a nine per cent rise in expenses.

    A loan loss provision is an expense  reserved for defaulted loans, or credits.

    The analysts insisted that though profit before the provisions was up by nine per cent to N39.4 billion, this is not enough to offset the negatives on the loan provisions and expenses.

    “Diamond’s Bank’s impairment charge continues to be high in the sector and may worsen going forward, given the trend observed in some of the banks that have reported second quarter results, particularly given Diamond’s relatively high exposure to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the retail segments,” they said.

    Besides, Bloomberg consensus forecasts a PBT of N30.1 billion for Diamond for the year, but the performance of the lender portends a slight downward revision.

    Diamond Bank’s shares are down by 28.3 per cent, much worse than the All Share Index’s -10.2 per cent performance.

    For the analysts, though the bank’s cost of risk is in the three to 3.5 per cent range, below the four per cent guidance provided for the full year, it is believed the ratio is likely to worsen in the fourth quarter ended in December given the weak macro environment.

    “Further up the Profit and Loss, although both income lines contributed to the growth in pre-provision profits, non-interest income, which grew by 19 per cent year-on-year, was the stronger of the two lines. Funding income grew by only seven per cent year-on-year. Given that Diamond Bank’s loan book shrunk by two per cent quarter-on-quarter, it is believed that funding income most likely benefitted from a combination of higher yields on earning assets and a three per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in customer deposits,” they said.

    Sequentially, the bank’s PBT and PAT declined by 30 per cent per quarter and 44 per cent quarter mainly because non-interest income declined by five per cent per quarter while  expenses grew by 12 per cent quarterly.

    Compared with forecasts, PBT and PAT missed it by between 23 per cent and 25 per cent because profit before provisions came in four per cent behind forecast, expenses was around two per cent higher than analysts’ forecast.

    “The non-interest income line which came in around 18 per cent behind our forecast was the major driver behind the weakness in pre provision profit. In hindsight, our forecast may have been somewhat optimistic given how much deterioration the operating environment saw in second quarter,” they added.

     

  • Diamond Bank grosses N103b in six months

    Diamond Bank Plc grew its top-line by N6.2 billion in the first half to N103 billion as the commercial bank continued to broaden its retail and corporate banking businesses.

    Key extracts of the interim report and accounts for the six-month ended June 30, 2015 released at the weekend showed that gross earnings rose by six per cent to N103 billion by June 2015 compared with N96.8 billion recorded in comparable period of 2014.

    Commenting on the first-half performance, chief executive officer, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, said that the bank’s continued success in spite of regulatory headwinds underlined management’s strategies that promote sustainable growth and profitability in the long term.

    “Our innovative, customer friendly services, and retail banking strategy are showing positive results and will enable us to sustain low cost of funds. In the quarters ahead, we will focus on driving non-interest income, as we continue to explore opportunities to grow our market share responsibly. We shall expand customer relationships, enhanced by our elaborate channels and excellent service delivery,” Dozie said.

    However, further review indicated contraction in the bottom-line, but the bank’s capital adequacy ratio rose to 18.6 per cent, substantially higher than Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s minimum level. Profit before tax had declined from N16.07 billion to N14.19 billion while profit after tax slipped from N13.79 billion to N12.15 billion.

    Dozie said the group continues to deploy new technologies and digital applications to drive financial inclusion and convenient banking amidst a decline in the pace of economic activities and weak economic fundamentals.

    He noted that although loans to customers increased by N2.6 billion, customer deposits, however, declined from N1.5 trillion to N1.4 trillion, reflecting the impact of the bank’s deliberate decision to improve the efficiency of its funding structure, and effect of implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government and the CBN.

    He outlined that the bank’s focus remains on retail banking and providing convenient and easy banking to the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) segment adding that it has also continued to grow its corporate and mid-tier business segments.

    “The concept of value chain management helps us to provide end-to-end solution to the distributors of our corporate clients and ultimately improve value for both us and the customers,” Dozie said.

  • Diamond Bank chief urges technology adoption for competitiveness

    Diamond Bank chief urges technology adoption for competitiveness

    The Managing Director/CEO of Diamond Bank, Uzoma Dozie, has called for technology collaboration between business and the academia as a cost-effective way of enhancing Nigeria’s global competitiveness.

    Speaking at the Future Ready University Conference and launch of a mobile learning Experience Centre, financed by the bank at the Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, he said the time has come for the two to collaborate to push operating cost that is always on the increase.

    Other partners in the project are Softcom, Samsung Business and MTN Business.

    Delivering a keynote on “Why Financial Institutions Need to Play a Role in Digitising the Educational System,” Dozie said Future Ready is about being competitive to meet global needs, arguing that this could only be achieved only through the deployment of technology.

    He said: “From our experiences as a leading retail bank driving the integration of innovative solutions to meet modern lifestyle demands of our wide and diverse customer base, we know that technology offers better economy of scale as well as less expensive, more effective solutions.  This is the model we are trying to replicate in education in Nigeria.”

    He added that the Future Ready University initiative is a home-grown initiative designed to bring education in Nigeria into the 21st Century. ‘‘Many Nigerian parents send their children to schools abroad because the system is supported by technology that helps them keep track of their progress. With effective monitoring, stakeholders can pro-actively plan the education system to train manpower for the future of industry which ultimately leads to cost reduction in the long term,” he said.

    Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof. Charles Ayo, also noted that the future of employment in a globalised world is not based on quota but on the possession of the requisite skills. “Recognising that the 21st century student wants knowledge on the go and also wants to be an active partner in the learning process, Covenant University has adopted a problem-based learning approach that encourages students to seek out queries on their own for collective problem sharing and solution formulation. The result is that our students are more motivated to learn, collaborate in knowledge sharing and solution-centered.

    “The Future Ready University programme plans to expand this vision to every Nigerian student so they are not limited by physical spaces in the quest for knowledge; and that they have the best tools and skills to succeed.”

    Explaining the motivation behind the Future Ready University, Managing Partner, Softcom, Yomi Adedeji, said today’s students are largely spontaneous, interactive and heavily distracted. For educators to reach them, learning must provide engagement, exposure and evolving content.

  • Diamond Bank sharpens entrepreneurs’ skills

    Diamond Bank sharpens entrepreneurs’ skills

    Diamond Bank Plc yesterday held its 51st BusinessXpress Enterprise Series during which its executives and other facilitators helped Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs’) operators in horning their entrepreneurial skills.

    Retail Manager, Diamond Bank Plc, Aisha Ahmad told the participants that the bank provides proposition for every of its customers on how they can succeed in the business. She said issues the lender takes access to capital, improved human capital development and people’s skills very seriously.

    She said SMEs operators are expected to keep proper accounting to enable them have access to the right funds that will drive their businesses.

    Ahmad said seminar is an opportunity for participants to share ideas and learn from strengths and weaknesses of each operator. “Diamond Bank continues to improve what it gives to customers. We have listening earns and I therefore urge you to keep faith with us,” she advised.

    Co-Founder & Executive Director, Falcon Corporation Limited, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo who was the keynote speaker, said most companies started as SMEs and that it is the small companies that grow to become multinationals in the future.

    She advised the participants to be resilient and committed to their businesses ensuring that they build solid pillars on which the enterprise stands. She said that working and having a determination to succeed makes one to succeed.