Banking
Digital Transactions Jerk Union Bank’s H1’20 Earnings by 8%
By Dipo Olowookere
Despite the threats faced by Union Bank Plc in the first half of 2020 as a result of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19, it delivered a near double-digit growth in its gross earnings.
In the financial statements of the company for the period ended June 30, 2020, released today, the lender increased its earnings by 7.8 per cent to N81.9 billion from N76.0 billion in the same period of 2019.
This growth was influenced by an increase in earning assets as well as the use of Union Bank’s digital channels by customers during the lockdown in Nigeria.
On March 30, 2020, the federal government put Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State on total lockdown till early May, while some other states were put on partial lockdown.
During this period, banks and other businesses were not allowed to operate because the government was making efforts to control the spread of the virus, which has now infected over 5 million people worldwide.
But despite the lockdown, Union Bank’s half-year earnings grew because customers relied on its digital platforms to carry out their transactions, though earnings in Q2 slightly dropped to N38.0 billion from N38.3 billion in Q2 2019.
According to the lender, 90 per cent of transactions by its customers were completed digitally in the first half of the year compared with 57 per cent in the comparative period of 2019, translating to a 42 per cent growth in e-business fees from N2.5 billion in H1 2019 to N3.6 billion in H1 2020.
In the first six months of this year, Union Bank recorded a 6.3 per cent rise in interest income (N57.4 billion versus N54.0 billion in H1 2019) and this was also driven by the increase in earning assets.
In addition, the net interest income before impairment went up by 20.4 per cent to N28.3 billion from N23.5 billion due to the reduction in interest expense (N29.1 billion in H1’20 versus N30.5 billion in H1’19, while a robust growth in e-business and revaluation gains drove the non-interest income higher by 24.0 per cent to N22.7 billion from N18.3 billion in H1 2019.
It was observed that the net operating income increased marginally by 0.86 per cent to N46.7 billion from N46.3 billion, while the operating expenses slightly went down to N35.5 billion from N35.6 billion as a result of the lockdown in the second quarter of the year as most employees of the company worked from home.
Business Post observed that the bottom line of the results was not too impressive as the profit before tax grew by 2.7 per cent to N11.5 billion from N11.2 billion in H1 2019, while the profit after tax depreciated by 9.2 per cent to N10.8 billion from N11.9 billion.
Due to the increased demand for its innovative offerings and the continued benefits of its brand growth, Union Bank recorded a 12.3 per cent year-to-date rise in customer deposits to N995.0 billion from N886.3 billion in FY 2019.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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