The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Heritage Bank

  • Heritage Bank bags ISO award

    Heritage Bank bags ISO award

    Heritage Bank Limited has been awarded the ISO/INEC 27001:2013 certification in recognition of its commitment to effective and secured financial system. The bank got the certification award in less than three years of operation and therefore joined the league of big players in the industry, including the Central Bank of Nigeria which is ISO/INEC 27001 compliant.

    The award was presented on behalf of the British government, to the bank in Lagos by the Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Ray Kyles.

    Kyles commended the bank for setting high standard in the financial industry and pledged the continued support of the British government for Nigeria’s financial institutions. “It is not an easy task. This award remains a cornerstone of your reputation,” he said.

    The Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, noted that banking is a business of risks management, from assets to data, adding that it is fundamental that whatever a customer keeps in a bank is in safe custody. “This is a day to beat our chest. Heritage Bank is an idea, not a bank. We are a service company providing banking service; and we are the best in the class of security of our information systems. It means funds kept with us are safe. This award is a validation of our mission to promote high ethical standards, integrity, and good business practices,” he said.

    Sekibo stated that innovation is inevitable for the banking industry. This, he said, is due to changing dynamics across the globe which has penetrated banking. He therefore, reiterated the commitment of his bank to introducing more innovative banking products and services to meet the needs of its customers.

    Solomon Edun, Managing Director of Global Infoswift, the consultant to the project explained that the certification is a rigorous exercise that confers internationally recognised standard on the recipient. He added that the award is the most rigorous certification in terms of information, process/data and asset security.

  • Heritage Bank, PMAN promote biometric card scheme

    Heritage Bank has announced its partnership support with the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) for the launch of a Biometrics Card Scheme for members of the music body.

    The PMAN Biometrics Card Scheme, a flagship multi-purpose identity card project which was initiated to re-validate the association’s eminent status in the nation’s entertainment industry, is conceived as a starting point of an all-inclusive scheme to ensure significant levels of protection for Nigerian musicians’ commercial rights.

    PMAN President, Pretty Okafor, explained that the scheme is a product of a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s entertainment business landscape which shows that Nigerian musicians and their colleagues in the entertainment sector have been earning far below the commercial value of their works due to a variety of factors such as poor infrastructure and weak institutional and policy environment.

    According to him, the scheme would make it possible for PMAN to develop a sound database of genuine practitioners in the nation’s music business sector, thereby strengthening the anti-piracy campaign.

    Additionally, the card would serve as a debit ATM Card and will also  avail members a CUG (Close User Group) platform to call their music business associates for a fixed monthly flat rate using the network service provider that is also partnering with PMAN in the scheme.

    Heritage Bank’s Group Head of e-bank, Tobe Nnadozie said the bank’s decision to be part of the PMAN Biometrics Card Scheme is informed by its unwavering commitment to wealth creation, preservation and transfer in the entertainment sector.

    “The entertainment sector has been identified as one of the biggest economic blocs in the country with potential to contribute hugely to the development of the national economy. Sadly, entertainment practitioners are being hampered from enjoying large chunks of what they deserve as income from their creative investments. As a bank that is wholly committed to the mantra of wealth creation and preservation, Heritage Bank is more than ready and willing to partner with PMAN in the task of sanitizing the environment so that entertainment practitioners can really flourish”.

     

  • Heritage Bank CEO to speak at CBN’s cashless Card Expo

    Heritage Bank CEO to speak at CBN’s cashless Card Expo

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo will speak on ‘Innovation in Financial Services Delivery’ at this year’s Cashless Card Expo of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    This event is scheduled to hold from  June 23 to 25 in Lagos.  Among other things, the expo features various awards for outstanding payment cards and services, in a bid to recognise and reward banks and financial services efforts at promoting the cashless policy.

    In addition to the presentation by Sekibo, Heritage Bank has been nominated for two of the Cashless Expo Award categories namely, “Best Co-branded Card of the year” and “Best Industry innovation of the year”.

    Since it commenced operations in 2013, the bank has distinguished itself through innovative banking services, offering unique customer satisfaction and unparalleled comfort and convenience to existing and new customers.

    Two months after it commenced operation, the lender introduced zero Commission on Turnover (CoT), with no hidden charges for its customers.

    “The nomination of the Bank for “Best Co-branded Card of the year” and “Best Industry innovation of the year” awards at this year’s CBN’s Cashless Expo is in recognition of the various industry setting innovative e-payment cards and channels introduced by the bank since it commenced operations in 2013,” Sekibo said in a statement.

    Some of the products include e-Piggy Card which is for collecting change at merchants; 7411 Smart Travel Tourist Card, which enables visiting tourists in Nigeria to carry out card transactions easily; Mainasara Women and Youth Card, a scheme card to support women and youth development; Vineland Microfinance Bank Card, for customers of Vineland MfB to carry out transactions.

     

  • Heritage Bank funds 8.5MW power project

    The management of Heritage Bank has announced that the recently completed 8.5 Megawatts (Mw) Peninsula Independent Power Project (PIPP) financed by the bank will be inaugurated this month.

    Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, said the bank is proud to be part of the project activated by the Lagos State Government to provide power supply for businesses and industries around Lekki Peninsula.

    He added that the bank’s involvement in the project was borne out of its business objective of continuously offering ingenious financial support and advisory services on investment, project finance, business expansion, modernisation, production process and capacity improvement and restructurings that would create multiple economic advantages for the benefits of majority of its stakeholders.

    According to him, “the Project Finance facility granted to the Peninsula Independent Power Project was to set up a 8.5 Megawatts Captive Power Generating Plant with a 22km Distribution Network which has the potential of upgrading to a 25 Mw power generating plant that will run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The PIPP will provide power for the Lagos State Government water works and public lighting within Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi.”

    He added that facilities to be connected to the project include Lekki Phase 1 Waterworks, Ligali Ayorinde Waterworks, Victoria Island, Saka Tinubu Waterworks, three boreholes located at Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island and Alexander Road Waterworks Ikoyi. Others include 10 km of New Public Lighting within Lekki Phase 1, 15 km of New Public Lighting within Victoria Island and Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge.

    Sekibo noted further that with the recent acquisition of Enterprise Bank, Heritage Bank is set to play more active role in sustainable economic initiatives as well as the CBN efforts to promote financial inclusion and all national banking operational standards.

  • Heritage Bank inaugurates SME finance scheme

    Heritage Bank inaugurates SME finance scheme

    Heritage Bank Limited has announced the launch of  the Paris Klub SME (PKS) scheme. The SME Finance Package scheme is designed to support lending to the subsector without core collaterals.

    Managing Director of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, said there is no better time to support the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) than now when the survival of the economy depends largely on retail businesses.

    He noted that to improve the dwindling economy, a robust SME business environment has to be developed.

    “This is why we introduced the Paris Klub SME (PKS) Scheme to support lending without core collateral. We take pride in our hybrid solutions where borrowing customers gain access to more value added services including consulting, business tools and technology. What we have done is to bring up an innovative idea of how to finance SMEs without collateral. Once we identify the SMEs, we offer advisory services to them, we help them to structure their businesses and also with their cash flows,” he explained.

    The bank chief said the lender is currently developing a sponsored interest scheme for the education sector where educational institutions can borrow at low rate subsidised by the scheme manager. “We are also discussing partnership programmes with Venture Capital Firms to introduce debt-equity financing option”, he revealed.

    Sekibo noted that one major reason why banks were not funding SMEs was because of the risk involved. “A high perceived risk of lending to the largely unstructured SME Sector is a major issue. More efforts and resources are generally required to effectively monitor loans to SMEs which may result in eating into the bottom-line. In addition, banks also have different risk appetite,” he said.

    Speaking on the new SME Financing Scheme, Group Head, SME, Heritage Banking Company Limited, Mr. Bayo Ogunnusi, noted that Heritage Bank is working on several other sector-specific finance schemes in its quest to make SME financing simple. He specifically mentioned the agric sector where a large chunk of the nation’s SMEs operates.

    “We have financed a few agric projects and understand the challenges of the sub-sector. However, as a bank committed to improving national growth and development, we are encouraged by the long term potentials of the sub-sector. We are also leveraging on CBN Agricultural Funds (MSMEDF and CACS) and currently developing capacities to effectively support the agric sub-sector.”

    Ogunnusi affirmed that with the ongoing integration of the recently acquired Enterprise Bank with about 160 branches and 400 points of presence, which include ATMs and mini kiosks across Nigeria into the Heritage bank network, the bank’s capacity to grow the retail business sector would be properly enhanced.

     

  • Heritage Bank enhances CSR role

    Heritage Bank enhances CSR role

    Heritage Bank Limited has strengthened its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) roles to the society.

    To further underscore its commitment to the ideals of giving back to the society, the lender donated a Hyundai Shuttle Bus to aid the operation of the Cerebral Palsy Centre. The company said the donation was in furtherance of its corporate social responsibility, particularly aimed at enhancing wellbeing of children with health challenges.

    The bank’s Executive Director, Ivory Banking, Mrs. Mary Akpobome noted that the lender was delighted to be part of the life-saving and care-giving efforts of the Cerebral Palsy Centre because caring for the health-challenged persons is like sharing wealth to the less-privileged in the society.

    She said: “To us at Heritage Bank, we are delighted to donate this shuttle bus to support this worthy cause you are doing at the Cerebral Palsy Centre in terms of providing specialised medical, care-giving and trauma management for children and families with Cerebral Palsy challenges. We believe that giving is living and caring for others is a worthy cause that is similar to creating, preserving and transferring wealth to others.”

    She stated that the donation would go a long way in enhancing the operations of the Centre, especially in the area of moving children at the Centre from one point to another as well as in bringing their plights closer to other well meaning Nigerians.

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, Nonye Nweke expressed happiness over the donation which she described as timely and timeless. “On behalf of all of us at the Cerebral Palsy Centre, we really appreciate this landmark donation of a bus by Heritage Bank to enhance our operations. May God reward you abundantly. We pray that your efforts aimed at consolidating your presence in the financial industry will succeed beyond imagination. This is a timely and timeless gift!.”

    Also, a board member of the Centre, Dr. Kuti Biodun noted that Heritage Bank had succeeded in lifting souls of thousands of families and the Centre with the bus donation. “We appreciate staffs and management of Heritage Bank for this donation. Now, we can take the children out with ease. This will equally allow us to be able to assist kids in farther parts of Lagos like Agege and other far flung areas of the state for counseling and physiotherapy.

  • Heritage promises improved customer service

    Heritage promises improved customer service

    Heritage Bank Limited has promised its customers improved services and harnessing alternative markets in the non-oil sectors of the economy, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr. Ifie Seiko has said.

    He represented the bank’s Executive Director, Ivory Banking, Mrs. Mary Akpobome at the second Jeff & O’Brien Roundtable held in Lagos.

    Seiko said that with Nigeria’s over reliance on the oil sector and the effect of the fall in foreign exchange rate, banks need to redefine their retail banking strategies to cater for the emerging retail business opportunities in the nation’s non-oil sector.

    “Retail Banking in Nigeria is evolving. Traditional way of banking is changing. It is going to even change more with the digital age that we are coming into. Reliance and over reliance on Brick and Mortal branches is going to change. Customers are going to have a lot of alternatives as to how to interface with the market. Today, we hear of non-oil sector as alternatives to the oil sector. We can see what over reliance on the Oil sector has done to our economy. If we had focused greatly on these alternatives, the exchange rate would not have hit us as much as it did”, he explained.

    He added that those emerging alternatives, which form large chunk of what today’s retail banking needs to focus on, include businesses managed by middle-men, farmers, entertainers and other medium-sized businesses that are the new money spinners which have got the banking industry to rethink their customer management strategies.

    He added that with the successful acquisition of Enterprise Bank by Heritage Bank, the nation’s retail banking service is about to witness the best of retail banking offering established on “unique customer experience, culture of excellence and people skills”.

  • Heritage Bank reaffirms commitment to int’l trade

    Heritage Bank reaffirms commitment to int’l trade

    The Management of Heritage Bank Company Limited has reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of the economy and international trade through continuous engagement with local and international institutions who share its trade, investment and infrastructural finance vision.

    Its Group Head, Business Services, Mr. Wunmi Adeniyi, noted that with the acquisition of Enterprise Bank from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON),  it has re-positioned to play bigger role in promoting sustainable economic growth and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

    He spoke during the special meeting of the International Chamber of Commerce Nigeria (ICC Nigeria) Commission on Banking Technique and Practice in Lagos.

    He said: “The Enterprise Bank acquisition project is a great achievement for us a bank, given our age in the industry; and we hope to tap on the co-operation of our colleagues and ICC Nigeria as we aspire to play a bigger role in promoting economic growth and development in our nation. We look forward to great partnerships geared towards the provision of much needed infrastructure and promotion of the industrialization of the Nigerian economy and the global economy at large.”

    He added that the lender is positioned for the emerging opportunities including growth in international trade and foreign investment.

    Speaking on behalf of the visiting ICC team, Vice Chairman, Banking Commission, ICC Nigeria, Dr. Omolara Akanji, expressed delight in Heritage Bank’s dynamic stride in the banking industry in its short span of existence.

  • Zuriel Oduwole named Heritage Bank Ambassador

    Zuriel Oduwole named Heritage Bank Ambassador

    Africa’s most influential child and the youngest person in the world to be interviewed for a feature in Forbes magazine, has become an Ambassador for Nigeria’s newest retail financial institution, Heritage bank.

    Heritage has launched out into a strategic financial literacy program aimed at educating very early on, the country’s youth on financial understanding and money management.

    In recognition of her Africa wide successful campaign for children’s education, 11 year old Zuriel Oduwole, who is currently an Ambassador for the Tanzania First lady’s WAMA foundation dedicated towards child’s development, has been presented as Heritage Banks Financial Literacy Ambassador.

    At the event in Lagos attended by three of the banks executive directors, a concise talk on the importance of early planning of financial related issues aimed at the 5 – 17 year old bracket was delivered by Zuriel, before an audience of the banks leadership, the media, and representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Institute of Bankers.

    Heritage bank, which is leading the way in cutting edge banking technology and an exceptional customer experience, celebrates its first year in Business on March  4, 2014.

  • Akinfenwa’s new cash cow

    Akinfenwa’s new cash cow

    THE former Skye bank managing director and now chairman of Heritage bank, Akinsola Akinfenwa is not hiding the fact that he is investing heavily into properties. Apart from his consultancy for various banks across the country and beyond, the bespectacled banker also ventured into the hotel and hospitality business. The bank chief’s new project is a three-star hotel located in the central business district in Ikeja. And if all things go on as planned, the edifice will be commissioned by February 14. This is his not his first,after his exit from Skye Bank,Akinfenwa unveiled a multimillion naira hotel in Ondo state.