ASO

 
The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday cut the Monetary Policy Rate by one percentage point to 11.5%, in a bid to stimulate borrowing and lending to boost economic activities.

France’s largest hydrocarbons group Axens has won a contract to license key refinery technologies to one of Nigeria’s leading industrial conglomerates, the BUA Group, according to TheAfricaReport.

Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has made her debut in a movie produced by award-winning, and proudly Nigerian movie producer, Kunle Afolayan. The movie, Citation, is created to correct one of the greatest ills – rape and sexual molestation – which affects the educational system and indeed societies around the world. 

…Six New Country CEOs in Africa, International and Senior Group Roles

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced the convening of a Business Clinic to promote the growth and sustainability of the educational sector, especially in the light of the coronavirus which is having an adverse effect on the operations of schools across the world. The event is scheduled to hold via Zoom platform by 11:00am on Thursday, 23 July 2020.  

As the coronavirus pandemic forces firms to downsize and cut their wage cost to cope with the adverse economic realities, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is bucking the trend with a different approach that puts its staff first, writes Segun Adams.

The African Development Bank will launch its African Economic Outlook 2020 Supplement on July 7, it said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Philip Ikeazor , former Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s foremost lender, Keystone Bank Limited and Director/Principal Consultant, Tideway Advisory Limited has postulated six  critical success factors for businesses after covid-19 at the University of Buckingham Alumni Association (Nigeria Chapter) virtual webinar series with topic “Effects of Covid-19 on Business Operations”. Philip Ikeazor – Director/Principal Consultant, Tideway Advisory Limited, Former MD/CEO, Keystone Bank Limited. Image Credit: Tideway Advisory Limited
Ikeazor says as many businesses are seeking to evaluate how their operations need to adapt to the world that will emerge following the climax of the novel Coronavirus pandemic and beyond. “Operating environment and shockswhether global or local will remain a recurring factor,” he said.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider,has announced that it has reinforced its technology infrastructure to enable anyone in the country open a FirstBank account through their mobile phones, without visiting any of its branches nationwide.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with her customers, focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and effective leadership. These, amongst others, are the reasons the Bank has dominated the financial market for over 126 years.
The Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructural development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialization schemes, and entrenchment of the cashless policy which gave rise to electronic cards being a veritable entity in the day to day transactions among the bank's customers. Consequently, the use of its wide range of cards, developed with the ‘man on the move’ in mind, come with far reaching benefits and rewards, connecting the remotest of places even as the world is plagued by the novel Corona virus disease today.
The world as we know it today, is a global village, and its connectivity is at the tip of an individual’s finger. That aside, it also revolves around the use of ‘ordinary’ but highly customised cards and FirstBank is a confirmed Leader in this space. There's no gainsaying the fact that for 126 years and counting, FirstBank, Nigeria’s premier bank, with accolades and awards trailing its existence, has continued to blaze the trail in certainly every financial innovation. And as the name signifies, has continued to be the first in virtually everything banking and finance. Little wonder that in December 2015 and May 2016, FirstBank was named the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained alternative channels transaction volumes of 100 million transactions. Subsequently in 2017, the Bank also attained the Milestone of 10million card base, a feat that is first of its kind in West Africa and Second in Africa.
There is hardly any banking innovation, which is not traced to the company that has overtime woven itself into the very fabric of the society. Commenting on FirstBank’s strides, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, disclosed that the bank's 53, 000 agents across the country processed about N512 billion worth of transactions with differing values while the lockdown lasted. He noted that the bank was "able to actively support her customers, their families and businesses through these challenging times." This is nothing short of the FirstBank advantage.
Adeduntan reiterated the faith Nigerians have in the use of FirstBank cards, saying that during the period of the lockdown, Nigerians with FirstBank cards used them 105 million times to make payments or withdrawals worth about N1.18 Trillion as they relied on the Bank to settle their banking needs. In addition, the Bank’s CEO noted that approximately 12.6 million withdrawals to the tune of N156 billion were carried out across FirstBank’s ATMs nationwide.
"Our customers made transfers over 106 million times with a total value of about N8.18 Trillion across our digital channels. We have also recorded over 275,000 new sign-ups to alternative channels covering our Firstmobile, USSD and First-Online platforms," the CEO informed.
While calling on lovers of stress-free banking to get on board, the FirstBank CEO further assured existing customers of the bank's relentless efforts to ensure that banking transactions continue seamlessly, adding that COVID-19 will not slow down her activities and efforts at staying true to her brand promise to her customers.
FirstBank cards come in a wide range of categories, each fulfilling tasks that are better imagined, but nevertheless are flexible and offer comfort, stress-free banking and wholesome peace of mind. It is therefore not a coincidence, that FirstBank is and remains Nigeria’s highest card transacting bank; a product of carefully thought out process, hard work and the quest to keep its customers first in all things. This is especially important at a time when movement and business activities were largely hampered by the lockdown, with the maintenance of social distance and the potential increase in the use of the Bank’s alternative channels - which is facilitated by its cards – for various transactions and business activities, thus staying safe to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The range of cards available to customers of FirstBank are categorised into three broad groups, viz; DEBIT, CREDIT and PREPAID Cards. The grouping covers outstanding cards offerings such as Naira MasterCard, Verve Card and the pioneering Visa Multi-Currency Card. Others are Expressions MasterCard, Platinum MasterCard, Visa Infinite Credit Card, Visa Gold Credit Card, Naira Credit Cards (Visa Classic and Platinum), Visa Prepaid Card and Verve Prepaid Card.
FirstBank’s Naira MasterCard & Verve Card are Secured by Chip & PIN technology with local POS/Web limit increase available upon request. The Naira denominated MasterCard comes with various benefits such as online purchases, bills payments and cash withdrawals at ATMs world-wide. The various transaction limit(s) on Naira MasterCard issued by the Bank are N150,000 for ATM transactions, N2,500,000 for POS and N1,000,000 for Web transactions.
The FirstBank Verve Debit Card works with Chip and PIN technology to secure transactions. It allows the cardholder to conveniently pay for goods and services and is accepted by all ATMs, POS, Web, Mobile, Kiosk, and Bank Branch connected to the Interswitch network in Nigeria. It is available to all account holders and enables daily transaction limits of N150,000, and N500,000 on ATM and POS channels respectively. Customers can transact up to N1 million on the Web in a single transaction.

Access Bank Plc has commenced the 12th season of its DiamondXtra promo. The bank intends to reward about 5,074 customers with prize of over N1 billion. Also, the Executive Director, Retail Banking, Access Bank, Victor Etuokwu said the bank was targeting to increase its customer base from 41 million to 100 million by year 2022.

In a clear show of its resilience and market leadership, Zenith Bank has announced an impressive result for the year ended December 31, 2019, with profit after tax (PAT) of N208.8 billion, achieving the feat as the first Nigerian Bank to cross the N200 billion mark.

…Coy. appoints Michel Puchercos as new Group Managing Director (GMD)
 The Group Managing Director/CEO of Dangote Cement Plc (https://www.Dangote.com/), Engr. Joseph Makoju mni will retire as GMD/CEO effective January 31, 2020, a position he has held since 2018; according to a report from the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The Federal Government will welcome collaboration with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in key aspects of improving the economy including the Ease of Doing Business, the privatization of public enterprises, amongst others, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.