The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Union Bank

  • Union Bank vs. Citizen Tejumade Adeyemi (2)

    (Trader’s savings mysteriously disappears from bank account as pensioners accuse bank of withholding their pension)

    Without prejudice, there is something gnomic about banking at Union Bank; late American business executive, Sarnoff, would describe it as the art of passing currency from hand to hand until it finally disappears. It is. Ask citizen Tejumade Adeyemi. She cried helplessly, as her account got pilfered and drained of all her savings, on the bank’s watch. This makes Union Bank look like an ordinary pick-pocket. Is it?

    Adeyemi accuses Union Bank of complicity in the alleged illegal withdrawal of the sum of N251, 447 from her account with the Oba Akran, Ikeja branch of the bank. Still smarting from the vileness of the attack carried out on her account, Adeyemi threatened to take legal action against the bank if it refuses to refund her money but the bank has called her bluff.

    Union Bank persists in misdemeanour riding on a wave of presumed invincibility and disdain for customers that probably fall outside its classification of deep-pockets. Not even the intervention of Lagos-based lawyer, Adejumo Omobolaji, could guarantee a refund of Adeyemi’s missing cash. Omobolaji intervened in Adeyemi’s interest after reading the first installment of this article about three weeks ago. But despite his intervention, the situation looks bleak for Adeyemi. Union Bank has denied liability, blaming the victim for the fraud. According to the bank, Adeyemi’s savings got stolen because her account was used to make purchases online. Union Bank attributes the victim’s plight to possible compromise of her confidential card details.

    Union Bank’s reluctance to admit culpability no doubt flies in the face of reason, in the estimation of the lawyer and his client. Why did the bank refuse to suspend further transactions on the account as instructed by Adeyemi? Was it such a hard order to carry out?

    At this juncture, it becomes imperative to restate the facts, according to Adeyemi.  Adeyemi allegedly received SMS alerts from the bank on May 4, 2015, notifying her of unauthorised withdrawal of the sum of N30,000 from her account through ATM. Worriedly, she rushed to the Iju branch of the bank to report the matter and was advised by officials of the branch to report the incident at the Oba Akran, Ikeja branch where her account was domiciled. On her visit to the Oba Akran branch on May 5, Adeyemi said she was shocked to discover that the illegal withdrawals actually started on May 2nd  and May 3rd and that she was never notified by the bank.

    She said: “On May 4, 2015, I received an alert indicating that the sum of N30,000 had been withdrawn by unknown persons from my account. I quickly went to the nearest branch of Union Bank at Iju Road, Ifako-Ijaiye, from where I was advised to visit the branch where I opened the account on Oba Akran Road, Ikeja, after I explained to the officials of the bank that my ATM card was with me and that its details were not in any way compromised by me. The next day, May 5, I visited the Oba Akran branch and I asked that further transactions be suspended on the account until further notice. When I asked for the details of the transactions, I was shocked to discover that the illegal withdrawals started between May 2nd and May 3rd, wherein about N45,747.35 had been taken from my account and no alert or notification was sent to me till date. I also discovered that there were other illegal withdrawals totaling N180, 000 made on May 4, yet the bank did not notify me.”

    According to Adeyemi, she was assured by both the Manager of the bank and the Head of Customer Service that further transactions on her account will be suspended including ATM withdrawals. “By then, I was having about N25,190 as balance in my account. The money was still in my account as at May 14, when a statement of account was given to me but I was surprised to receive further notification of illegal withdrawal of the remaining balance a few days later. Immediately, I called the secretary to the manager of the branch on his mobile phone and I was assured of prompt remedy that has not been fulfilled to date. In all, N251, 447 was illegally withdrawn from my account and I strongly suspect an insider in the bank is behind the illegal withdrawals from my account. The bank has refused to take blame for its complicity in this fraudulent withdrawal of my money and I am going to consider a legal option if the bank refuses to refund my money,” she said.

    When The Nation’s Chief Correspondent that handled the story, contacted the Head of Media and Special Projects of Union Bank Plc, Francis Barde, via an email, his reply was cryptic and muddled in officialese; that is, unclear, pedantic, verbose language characteristic of shady official correspondence.

    Nothing is so fatal to enterprise as indifference to customers’ worries and pains; for Union Bank to willfully and disdainfully shirk responsibility for Adeyemi’s plight translates to a cruel and unusual sort of grotesqueness. But if you are taken aback by Union Bank’s shabby treatment of Adeyemi, you just might be mystified by the bank’s alleged mistreatment of pensioners. Amid the flurry of tragic testimonies of inconveniences suffered by customers of the bank, the case of pensioners dealing with the bank rankles a melancholic note. One such message reads thus: “Sir, I loved your write-up captioned ‘Union Bank vs. Citizen Tejumade Adeyemi’ in The Nation of June 12, 2015. We, the pensioners of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc nationwide (pensioners from 2006 to 2012 of which I am one) have been maltreated, pauperised, traumatised, dehumanised and some have been sent to their early graves.

    “For over two years, Union Bank has refused to pay our legacy fund/accrued pension rights to our various Pension Fund Administrators (PFA). It is impossible for us to access our pensions. After many entreaties to both PENCOM and Union Bank and despite the directives by PENCOM to Union Bank to payus, the bank remains adamant and unperturbed; this is sheer impunity. We are in a dilemma and this is our plight for you to intervene and help us. I have been making frantic efforts in this regard  but to no avail…We have facts and evidences to support our claims and pursuits.”

    The writer of the message subsequently called to lament the impunity by which Union Bank visits interminable hardships and financial constraints on him and his fellow pensioners. It was disheartening listening to the poor old man as he gave vent to his grief over Union Bank’s perceived iniquities and intransigence to their plight.

    It is pitiful yet instructive to see Union Bank severally betray the trust reposed in it by its customers. It is even more enlightening to note that the bank perpetrates such perfidy despite legal and moral expectations that it protects its customers from fraud committed by its agents, directors , partners in making  payment orders and so on; perhaps the bank is aware of this crucial obligation, it simply chooses to flout and pervert it.

    There is something seriously wrong with Union Bank’s management and operational culture. And the situation calls for the urgent intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

      To be continued…

  • FCMB, Union Bank, others offer $445m loan to Accugas

    First City Monument Bank Plc, (FCMB), Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ecobank Nigeria have granted $445 million Senior Debt Facility to Accugas Limited.

    Other banks in the deal are Firstbank of Nigeria Limited, Ecobank Nigeria and United Bank for Africa Plc.

    FCMB Capital Markets Limited, the investment banking subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, facilitated the successful closure of the deal.

    Accugas is the indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven Energy International Limited, an independent Nigerian integrated oil and gas exploration, development, production and gas distribution company.

    The agreement signing ceremony of the facility, which was provided by a syndicate of banks, was held yesterday in Lagos.

    Accugas Limited said it will use the funds to refinance its existing facilities and to support additional medium-term capital requirements. This will enable the company achieve its objective of satisfying the growing energy demands from power plants and industrial users in Nigeria.

    FCMB Capital Market played the role of Joint Structuring Bank, Joint Mandated Lead Arranger and Technical Bank in the transaction. In its role as Joint Mandated Lead Arranger, it contributed significantly in the arranging the Facility.

    FCMB Capital Market has also demonstrated its ability to allocate the technical risks associated with complex projects of this nature having performed the same role on a number of transactions. This included the $225 million Accugas II transaction secured in 2013 for the construction of the company’s Central Processing Facility (CPF) and second gas pipeline project from Uquo to Oron in Akwa Ibom state to supply gas to the Niger Delta Independent Power Plant at Calabar, Cross River state.

    In its capacity as the Technical Bank for the $445 million facility, FCMB Capital Market worked with the lenders and their Technical Adviser to ensure that Accugas satisfactorily addressed all technical milestones, including surface and sub-surface related issues.

    Speaking after the agreement signing ceremony, the Executive Director of FCMB Capital Markets, Mr. Tolu Osinibi, expressed excitement on the successful closure of the deal and also commended Seven Energy for its ongoing and significant contributions to the development of Nigeria’s energy sector.

    According to him, “aside from playing its part in ensuring the successful completion of the transaction, FCMB Capital Markets will continue to take seriously its commitments and responsibility as the Technical Bank”. Mr. Osinibi added that “this role remains important towards ensuring that Accugas continues to realise its expansion plans, by adequately monitoring the various complex issues associated with the projects, on behalf of the syndicate of lenders”.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Seven Energy, Mr. Philip Ihenacho, thanked the team for the laudable work done to bring the capital raising exercise to a close, adding that “the project financing deal is a milestone in the history of our company, especially as it demonstrates Banks’ confidence in the gas sector’’.

    According to him, “for Nigeria to be able to develop domestic gas infrastructure to solve the problem of power sector in particular, we need to begin to mobilise capital to projects like this. We now have almost 300km of gas pipelines. Our company has a gas producing plant that is one of the largest in sub-sahara Africa with focus on domestic supply of gas.  We currently supply gas to some power plants. The backing of the banks has made this possible and we are very happy about this development”.

    Mr. Iheanacho identified inability to move the product to end users as the main challenges of gas exploration in the country. ‘’There is a lot of discovered gas in Nigeria. The challenge is actually in terms of getting the gas to customers because unlike oil, where you can truck it or move easily, gas, can only be transported through pipelines or by liquefaction compressors’’.

    Analysts are of the opinion that the various projects being executed by Accugas are important developments towards monetising gas, bridging the supply deficit and stimulating further investment in Nigeria’s gas infrastructure.

  • Union Bank to fund Egboama gas plant with N4b

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plcn has signed a N4 billion agreement to finance Egbo-ama Gas Plant owned by PNG Gas Limited.

    In a statement, the bank said the facility will provide the required funding for the refurbishment and upgrade of gas plant located in Delta State.

    The Executive Director, Corporate Banking at Union Bank, Mr. Emeka Okonkwo said: “Union Bank is pleased to be supporting PNG with the financing of Egboama plant which is expected to produce about 101 tons of liquefied petroleum gas per day. This project will no doubt enhance efforts towards increasing domestic utilisation of gas in the country and reducing dependence of oil.”

    In addition to producing 101 tons of liquefied petroleum gas per day, the Egboama gas plant is also expected to produce 38 tons of propane gas per day, 750 barrels of natural gas liquids as well as 25 million standard cubic feet of lean gas per day.  The lean gas would be piped into the national gas grid to support power generation.

    Union Bank is a key player in oil and gas financing and is resolute in promoting and developing industries in the sector as part of its transformation programme.

     

  • Buhari, PENCOM and Union Bank

    SIR: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declaration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) on Wednesday, April 1, as winner of the March 28, Presidential election must have sent shivers down the spines of people and corporate organizations who believe and thrive in impunity and recklessness.

    This declaration equally ushered in hope for people like me. It is the dawn of a new era.

    We, the pensioners of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc nationwide (pensioners from 2006 to 2012 of which I am one) have been maltreated, pauperized, traumatised, dehumanised and some have been sent to their early graves.

    For over two years, Union Bank has refused to pay our legacy fund/accrued pension rights to our various Pension Fund Administrators.

    It is impossible for us to access our pensions. After many entreaties to both PENCOM and Union Bank and despite the directives by PENCOM to Union Bank to pay us, the bank remains adamant and unperturbed; this is sheer impunity.

    We are in a dilemma and this is our plight for which the world must know.

    Union Bank should pay all our entitlements now. This is appealing to our GMB, the yet to be formed central government of APC, relevant authorities and stakeholders to come to our rescue.

    We believe that change has come!

     

    • Lanre Onawola

    Apata, Ibadan.

  • Union Bank pre-tax profit rises by 635% to hit N27.7b

    Union Bank pre-tax profit rises by 635% to hit N27.7b

    Union Bank of Nigeria has said its group profit before tax rose 635 per cent to N27.7 billion during the financial year ended December 31, 2014.

    The lender’s total asset was stable at N1 trillion while net loans and advances to customers up 36 per cent to N312.8 billion from N229.5 billion the previous year.

    Customer Deposits were up nine per cent to N527.6 billion from N482.7 billion as at December 2013 while Net Interest Income after impairment charge was up four per cent to N47 billion N45.2 billion as at December 2013.

    “Profit Before Tax was up by N24 billion for the group and N16 billion for the bank, including N6.3 billion from sale of subsidiaries. Loan book grows by 44 per cent while there was significant growth in net operating income,” the bank said.

    Its Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said: “2014 was focused on implementing the foundational pillars of our transformation strategy with a vision to rebuild Union Bank into a highly respected provider of financial services in Nigeria. We optimised our talent base, making significant hires into key roles and ensuring we have the right people in the right functions, and aligned our staff compensation and overall costs to be competitive within the industry. We also overhauled operations and processes in order to consistently deliver quality service to our customers, and established a Central Processing Centre to provide streamlined, cost efficient, and consistent processing of branch operations.”

    He said going into this year, key financial indicators for the bank have been normalised and growth trajectory remains positive.

    He said:“As we continue to execute strategic transformation initiatives, we expect to see continued improvement in both our financial and operational performance as we roll out a new core banking platform which will markedly transform our customer service and product delivery capabilities.”

    Its Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Oyinkan Adewale, said: “Having substantially cleaned up our loan book in 2013, we were able to reduce net impairment charge by 75 per cent and improve Non Performing Loans ratio from six per cent in 2013 to 5.1 per cent in 2014.

    “We have better leveraged our capital base, with a 44 per cent growth in the loan book, and growth in loan to deposit ratio from 48 per cent in December 2013 to 64 per cent at the end of 2014.”

  • Union Bank deploys ‘Oracle Flexcube’ to boost operations

    Union Bank deploys ‘Oracle Flexcube’ to boost operations

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) has deployed the Oracle Flexcube Universal Banking Solution 12.0, a new core banking application introduced to modernise its infrastructure, improve operating efficiency and customer service delivery.

    The latest version of Oracle Flexcube was deployed by the lender as the single operating platform for its countrywide network.

    The bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said the new platform is in line with the bank’s goal of becoming a highly respected provider of quality banking services within six areas of focus. He said the lender is focusing on quality of customers experience, quality of client base, quality of talent, quality of banking platform, quality of professional standards and quality of the banks’ earnings.

    Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the bank, Yomi Akinade said with the new platform, the lender would be enhancing and standardising its operations across the country by leveraging on the capabilities of the new technology. “We will have a common operating platform in our extensive network of over 320 branches across Nigeria,”   he said.

    Akinade said the software, already deployed, puts lender at the top with this state of the art technology.

    He said since the bank embarked on restructuring in 2010; his team has implemented well over 70 technology projects. “There are three key areas on the over 70 technology projects, which include: improving customers’ services, securing customers and the bank’s data as well improving our productivity as an institution,” he affirmed.

    He disclosed that during the time of the upgrade, customers and the general public may experience some challenges, but measures have been put in place to ensure continuous seamless service delivery in case of disruptions during implementation.

    “As you well know, when you go live with a major massive complex project like this, there would be teething issues. So, there are challenges and customers should understand this; but is for their own long term benefit; because we would have a much more superior service offering when the system runs fully,” he added.

    He affirmed that the bank is trying to bring all of its third party applications up in the earliest possible time, when over 90 per cent of those applications would be working.

    He listed some of the challenges being experienced with the current system as the maintenance of multiple servers in branches, constant need for system enhancement when a new field is required on the system.

    According to Akinade, others are income leakage since some charges and new products could not be automated or configured, customer mandate maintained on third party applications instead of the core banking application, complexity in report generation, audit trail on maintenances and issue of account replication from the retail to the corporate modules are some of the challenges with the old version.

  • Union Bank achieves ISO certification

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has been certified to the internationally recognised ISO27001:2013 standard for Information Security. The bank was awarded the certificate following a rigorous audit process conducted by the British Standards Institute (BSI), in partnership with Information Value Chain consulting firm, Digital Jewels.

    ISO 27001:2013 is an information security standard published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electro technical Commission (IEC), under the joint ISO and IEC subcommittee.

    The standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving information security management across systems, people and processes.

    It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks specifically tailored to the needs of an organisation.

    The  Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive of Union Bank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said: “Since we began implementing our transformation initiatives in 2014, we have continued to improve our systems and processes to deliver optimal service levels to our customers. This certification reinforces our commitment to embracing global best practices in ensuring the integrity of our customer data and a secure operating environment.”

    Last year, Union Bank became the first Nigerian financial institution to be awarded the latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – Version 3.0, which offers customers added protection from card fraud and other security vulnerabilities.

     

  • Union Bank gets ISO2700: 2013 certification

    Union Bank gets ISO2700: 2013 certification

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has been officially certified to the internationally recognised ISO27001:2013 standard for Information Security. The bank was awarded the certificate following a rigorous audit process conducted by the British Standards Institute (BSI), in partnership with Information Value Chain consulting firm, Digital Jewels.

    ISO 27001:2013 is an information security standard published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electro technical Commission (IEC), under the joint ISO and IEC subcommittee. The standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving information security management across systems, people and processes. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks specifically tailored to the needs of an organisation.

    Commenting on the achievement, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Union Bank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said: “Since we began implementing our transformation initiatives in 2014, we have continued to improve our systems and processes to deliver optimal service levels to our customers. This certification reinforces our commitment to embracing global best practices in ensuring the integrity of our customer data and a secure operating environment.”

  • Union Bank marks Money Week with school adoption

    As part of activities marking this year’s Global Money Week and Financial Literacy Day, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has announced its adoption of Uyo High School, Oron Road, Uyo  in Akwa Ibom State.

    The adoption is in furtherance of a wider Bankers’ Committee initiative to promote Financial Inclusion in Nigeria by providing financial education to schools across the country.

    “Union Bank remains firmly committed to the achievement of Financial Inclusion in Nigeria and we recognise that Financial Literacy is a key step in achieving this,” said Emeka Emuwa, Group Managing Director, Union Bank, and Chairman, Financial Literacy and Public Enlightenment Sub-Committee of the Bankers’ Committee.

    During the visit, Mr. Emuwa taught some pupils a lesson on “Growing Your Money.“ The lesson was taken from a special Financial Literacy Curriculum developed by Junior Achievement Nigeria – a non-profit organisation focused on educating children about their economic environment – and covered topics on savings, investments and protecting one’s money.

    Global Money Week is a worldwide money awareness celebration, which holds from Monday, March 9, to Tuesday, March 17. The initiative is aimed at engaging children on financial education. The Bankers’ Committee in Nigeria designated Thursday, March 12 as its Financial Literacy Day.

    The day is being marked to focus attention on children and youth in primary and secondary schools nationwide and to empower them by enhancing their financial knowledge and planning skills.

     

  • Union Bank wins MasterCard PoS award

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has emerged the financial  industry’s “Cashless POS Activation Champion,” in the MasterCard cashless champion awards for last year.

    The bank received the award for recording the highest increase in the activation of its Point of Sale (POS) terminals as recorded by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s (NIBSS) Payments Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) report.

    The report indicated that by the end of last year, Union Bank had attained an “active-to-deploy” POS ratio of 98 per cent, against the 56 per cent industry rate. The bank had also deployed the highest number of POS terminals with over three thousand POS points, representing a 116 per cent growth rate when compared to the third quarter of 2014.

    Commenting on the award, the Head of E-Business, Mr. Fatai Baruwa said: “As we focus on building a simpler, smarter bank, ensuring that our customers adopt alternative channels for payments and banking services is critical. When a customer requests a debit card, we proactively ensure the customer follows through and activates that card on our POS terminals. As we get set to rollout our instant card offering across the country, we expect our activation rates to go up”.

    In 2014, Union Bank announced that it had begun implementing a transformation strategy that will make it a highly respected provider of quality financial services. The bank has commenced a restructuring of its physical and technology infrastructure as well as optimisation of its branch network.  The MasterCard Cashless Awards was launched in October 2014 by global payments technology company MasterCard and aims to promote a culture of cashless transactions.