By Ahmed Rahma
A Nigerian multinational financial institution, Access Bank Plc, has emerged the ‘Safest Bank’ for its continued efforts towards ensuring the protection of customer funds and data for the year 2020.
The bank, which was given the title by the Global Finance in its annual rankings of the World’s Safest Banks, has been the recognised and trusted standard of financial counterparty safety for over 25 years.
The Safest Banks by Country were selected through an evaluation of long-term foreign currency ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch and the total assets of the 1000 largest banks worldwide.
Commenting on the achievement, the Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Mr Herbert Wigwe, stated that, “Throughout 2020, financial institutions all over the world have been faced with peculiarities in safeguarding the finances and data of customers.
“Through this, Access Bank has remained steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that the finances of customers are protected and the data confidentiality of all stakeholders are maintained.
“This recognition serves as an encouragement for us to build on our successes and invest even more in digitally-led measures that will position us as the world’s most respected African bank.”
In his comments, the publisher and editorial director of Global Finance, Mr Joseph Giarraputo, disclosed that, “For most of 2020, the world has been lashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a steep drop in economic activity and, in some cases, serious social unrest.
“Any of these developments could have significantly impacted banks’ creditworthiness.
“Surprisingly, however, the relative position of the world’s largest banks on Global Finance’s World’s Safest Banks 2020 lists has been mostly stable.
“One can only speculate on when, or if, the changes will come. In the meantime, the rankings will be used by companies, investors and individuals to gauge the relative safety of the banks with which they choose to do business.”
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale