Banking
Access Bank Gives Strong Warning Signal to Competitors
By Ukhueleigbe Zacchaeus
A warning has been sent out to players in the Nigerian banking industry by Access Bank, which plans to revolutionise the sector as soon as its anticipated merger with Diamond Bank is completed.
At a joint media briefing in Lagos yesterday, the lender said things will have to change in the industry when the merger is finalised.
“Our merger with Diamond Bank will be an industry game changer! This new alliance is going to redefine banking in Nigeria like Globacom did in the telecoms sector,” Mr Victor Etuokwu, the Executive Director, Personal Banking at Access Bank, informed newsmen at the briefing.
According to him, “The focus is to drive the SME market by adding great values to their business,” pointing out that the “merger has already given customers the use of the highest number of ATMs in Nigeria free of the N65 withdrawal charges.”
He explained that both parties agreed to become an entity in order to provide a better deal for customers, noting that Access Bank’s wholesale ability and Diamond Bank’s retail ability will make the new enlarged entity the best in the country.
Clarifying on identity of the new bank, Mr Etuokwu said, “It is a merger; that’s the first one, and two, because a bank (referring to Diamond Bank) took a strategic position to stop its international operations does not mean there is something wrong with it.
“It is not new. In fact, a bank in Nigeria has taken a similar step before, which is Wema Bank.
“In the past, Wema Bank was a much bigger bank, but it later became a small national bank. It’s all strategy. That means that banks and brands will always do things that will put them ahead.”
Continuing, the Access Bank Executive Director said, “What we have done is a merger of two great brands for the benefit of our customers.
“Access Bank, as you have always known us, has been a wholesale bank, but after the merger with Intercontinental in 2012, we began to do some retail banking operations, but we know that is not our strength and Diamond Bank, as you know, is a leader in retail banking in Nigeria.
“So, we have come together to complement each other to create a bank that will have robust strength for both the wholesale and retail markets.
“So, it’s a merger, the coming together of two Nigeria’s great banks to create value for consumers, that’s what it is.”
He said further that, “For the last one month, we have been going around the country and people have asked this question and we have given them one response. What is important is the identity of the new enlarged bank. The identity of the enlarged bank will reflect the strength of Access Bank and the strength of Diamond Bank.
“If you come into the bank of the enlarged entity, you will know that Diamond Bank is inside this bank as well as Access Bank.
“If you are a corporate customer, it will appeal to you and if you are a retail customer, it will also appeal to you; that’s what we have.
On how the new identity will look like, the banker said, “We have the best bank consultants working on it to ensure that identity of the new enlarged entity has the best identities of both banks. So, name is always part of our identity, there is more to our identity than just name.
“I don’t think we should be too focused on the name but virtually, it is and that will be clear in the next six to eight weeks.
“When you work into a branch, you will know that this is Access Bank and this is Diamond Bank.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Sewa Capital Investment, an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on supporting high-growth businesses across Africa, has made a strategic investment in Mathesis Analytics, a Nigerian financial technology company providing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered credit decisioning infrastructure.
The investment is expected to support Mathesis Analytics’ expansion drive for its AI-powered credit infrastructure in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigerian lenders face a critical structural gap: the fragmentation of verifiable consumer data makes it difficult to accurately price risk at scale. Mathesis directly addresses this bottleneck by aggregating disparate transactional and behavioural data into a real-time measure of creditworthiness.
The investment will support product development, institutional integrations, expansion of Mathesis’ lender network, and the strengthening of its data and technology infrastructure, a statement from the fintech firm stated.
By embedding this infrastructure, financial institutions can expand underwriting capacity, support more accurate risk-based lending decisions, and reach new market segments without compromising established risk thresholds.
For Mathesis Analytics, this investment represents an important milestone in its strategy to build Africa’s next-generation credit infrastructure to drive true financial inclusion.
Mathesis has already supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, providing a substantial operating base from which to deepen institutional adoption and expand into additional markets.
The company will leverage Sewa Capital’s backing to accelerate the expansion of its institutional footprint.
“At Sewa Capital, we are interested in businesses building the infrastructure that enables African economies to allocate capital more efficiently and inclusively.
“Mathesis Analytics is addressing a fundamental constraint in credit markets: the information gap that limits lenders’ ability to assess risk confidently.
“Its technology has the potential to expand responsible access to credit in Nigeria and, over time, across Africa. We are pleased to support the team through its next phase of growth,” the Managing Director of Sewa Capital, Ms Angela Jide-Jones, commented.
The chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Mr Winston Osuchukwu, in his reaction, said, “Credit inclusion begins with information visibility.
“Partnering with Sewa Capital accelerates the rollout of our infrastructure; equipping a wider network of lenders with the capabilities required to accurately evaluate risk and ultimately deliver credit services to previously excluded populations across the continent.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial technology (fintech) companies, and technology firms have been invited to apply for the second cohort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox Programme.
A statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the apex bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed that entries opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and will close on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Cohort 2 of the initiative introduces two dedicated testing tracks to support emerging technologies with the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system while upholding high standards of consumer protection, financial stability, and market integrity.
According to the central bank, the two tracks are VASP and Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP).
VASP track is to support innovative virtual asset, stablecoin, payment, settlement, custody, wallet, and related financial infrastructure solutions that require supervised live testing, while the non-VASP track supports innovations that leverage secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer outcomes.
The CBN Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment in which eligible participants may test innovative financial products, services, business models, and enabling technologies under the supervision of the CBN.
The programme enables the CBN and innovators to engage constructively throughout the testing process, supporting regulatory learning while encouraging responsible innovation that benefits consumers and the wider financial system.
Eligible organisations whose proposed innovations fall within the programme’s scope are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be assessed based on the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefit, governance arrangements, risk management capability, and the suitability of the proposed testing plan.
Successful participants will undertake supervised testing within clearly defined parameters agreed with the CBN, including appropriate safeguards for consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The central bank emphasised that participation in the scheme does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
It noted that the Sandbox is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen regulatory engagement, and support evidence-based policy development in line with the CBN’s statutory mandate.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The international spending limit on the GTBank Naira card has been increased by the financial institution to $40,000.
This information was revealed by the lender in an email to customers on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
The banking subsidiary of GTCO Plc disclosed that the new offshore spending limit is for a quarter.
This development comes as the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market is witnessing stability against the United States Dollar.
The forex volatility experienced a few years ago has eased, allowing companies and others to plan within a reasonable exchange rate band.
“The Dollar limit on your GTBank Naira Card is now $40,000 quarterly,” the tier-1 commercial bank said in the message sighted by Business Post.
Improvement in forex liquidity in the domestic FX ecosystem has allowed Nigerians to use their local cards to complete financial transactions on foreign platforms, which was not possible a few years ago because of Dollar scarcity and arbitrage.
At the official market on Tuesday, the exchange rate closed at N1,364/$1. It was exchanged at N1,367/$1 at the GTBank FX desk and N1,395/$1 at the parallel market.
