Banking
Ecobank Deepens Financial Inclusion via Tech
One of the lenders making efforts to reach the unbanked and under-banked in the country is Ecobank Nigeria. The company has been pushing the frontiers of financial inclusion by leveraging on technology with the introduction EcobankPay, Xpress Agency Points and other digital platforms into the market space.
These products have provided key solutions to address the rapid shift to mobile payment and the adoption of digital channels across the country.
Confirming this was the Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, who spoke at the Vanguard Economic Forum series on mobile money market and Fintech, with the theme Leveraging Fintech Innovation for Unlocking Growth and Competitiveness in Nigeria’s Mobile & Payment Ecosystem.
During the event held in Lagos, Mr Akinwuntan pointed out that Nigeria, which has improved financial inclusion from 47 percent to 63 percent in the last decade, remains a dynamic market with a lot of opportunities for digital financial expansion.
He stated that Ecobank has built an ecosystem that leverages digital technology to bring affordable, easy and convenient financial services to the people and businesses.
He described EcobankPay as “a lifestyle scan and pay digital payment and collection service which accepts payments from other platforms – mVisa, Masterpass and mCash.
“Payment can be made with any phone by scanning the QR code or using USSD at merchant locations,” he explained, adding that, “It’s unique offering, is its interoperability, that is, all bank customers in Nigeria can pay through their accounts in other banks.
“It is free to set up, as the shop owner only needs his/her QR code and phone for notifications to start receiving quick and easy payments. Merchant QR can also be set up via Facebook Messenger as well as USSD payment for low-income phone users.”
He noted that EcobankPay “is currently available at over 90,000 merchant locations across the country. This is in addition to over 6,000 Xpress point agent locations in the country.
“Also, we have over 8 million mobile banking subscribers across the Ecobank Group. Our Ecobank Mobile App is unique, as it is one universal app available in 33 countries where we operate in Africa.
“Furthermore, Ecobank has so far set up EcobankPay Zones in over 50 locations in different parts of the country. These are digital hubs enabling businesses within a location adopt Ecobank’s wide range of digital products for ease of payments for goods and services. The payment options at the zones include EcobankPay, Xpress points, Automated Teller Machines (ATMS) and Point of Sale (PoS)”.
Mr. Akinwuntan said also that the banks’ strategy includes collaboration with Fintechs to surmount the financial inclusion and adoption of financial services challenge.
Quoting the Efinafintech 2018 report, he noted that “there is an increased partnership with Fintechs as Nigeria is currently home to over 250 Fintechs and approximately 60 percent of them supporting payments and lending capabilities.”
“The cumulative Fintech funding by banks in Nigeria has surpassed $250 million in the past five years,” he pointed out.
“Ecobank hosts an annual Africa Fintech challenge and we are providing support infrastructure for Fintechs that excel at the challenge.
“At Ecobank our vision and mission focuses on providing Africans affordable and easy to access financial products and services. We believe innovation and technology could help remove barriers to 24/7 access to financial services through the use of self-service applications.”
He also noted that increasing mobile phone penetration has been a key enabler whilst the positive regulatory regime of the Central Bank is driving financial inclusion and seamless payment services initiatives in the country.
While commending Vanguard newspaper for organizing the event and choice of the theme and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s various initiatives targeted at promoting and creating enabling environment for mobile banking to thrive in the country, he made case for collaboration of all stakeholders to achieve the desired result.
Deputy Director, Payment System Department, CBN, Musa Jimoh, in his goodwill message at the forum said: “Cost of service is one of the reasons why people refuse to use some banking services including mobile money.
“So, we came out with a guidelines to bank charges to make sure that we regulate the charges and we have also come out with some other initiatives under the cashless scheme to see how we can bring people to the digital channel and reduce the high cost of operations in the bank. “There are several initiatives that CBN is pushing to ensure the mobile money operators grow and help us deepen financial inclusion.”
Earlier in her presentation, Professor Olayinka David-West, Academic Director, Lagos Business School, LBS, explained that financial inclusion is the access to unleash affordable financial services to the huge population of the unbanked and the under-banked in the society. She stated: “Affordable financial service is important because not everybody can afford to pay for account maintenance of N500 a month. “To address financial inclusion, innovation is important because it will help us address the easy access to financial services. It has nothing to do with literacy; it is about how do we design it knowing the capabilities of the people we are trying to serve.”
Ecobank is a leading pan-African bank with an unrivalled platform in Africa. Its vision is to build a world class Pan African bank contributing to the socioeconomic development of Africa, while also providing customers convenient accessible and reliable financial products and services.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it has paid the insured deposits of about 700,000 customers of the defunct Heritage Bank and has commenced the reimbursement of depositors of 46 microfinance banks (MFBs) whose operating licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The chief executive of NDIC, Mr Oludare Sunday, made this known on Wednesday during a retreat for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters in Lagos.
He said the corporation immediately began settling the insured deposits of customers after the CBN revoked the licences of the 46 microfinance banks and appointed the NDIC as their provisional liquidator.
“We are working on those. The CBN revoked the licences, and we were appointed as the provisional liquidator. We have started paying depositors of those banks, and gradually we intend to cover all the insured depositors,” he said.
Mr Sunday explained that the NDIC’s responsibility extends beyond paying insured deposits to recovering outstanding loans owed to the failed institutions and disposing of their assets to generate funds for the settlement of uninsured depositors.
“Our function as liquidator involves the payment of guaranteed sums. Thereafter, we go after those who owe the institutions and have not paid. We also ensure that we sell the available assets and realise their investments towards paying the uninsured portion of the deposits. So, we have started paying the guaranteed deposits. What we are doing now is also realising the assets of those institutions,” he stated.
Although he declined to disclose the exact number of depositors of the failed microfinance banks who had been reimbursed, Sunday said the Corporation was working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to identify depositors through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to ensure seamless payments.
“So, the more accounts we discover, the more payments we make,” he added.
Providing an update on the liquidation of Heritage Bank, the NDIC chief said about 700,000 depositors had already received their insured deposits, while efforts were ongoing to trace other customers whose identities could not be verified from available records.
He attributed the challenge to legacy accounts created before the introduction of the BVN system, as well as incomplete customer records inherited from banks that were later merged into Heritage Bank.
“If you know Heritage Bank, you know it is an amalgamation of several banks, including the acquisition of Enterprise Bank in 2014. So, if you think of banks like Guardian Express and Spring Bank, they are all part of Heritage Bank.
“There are depositors we have not been able to trace, and this is an opportunity for them to come forward. I am sure many of us did the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and may have left some money in an account, but there was no BVN then.
“Even the addresses we had were sometimes things like ‘opposite filling station.’ How do you trace such a person? Once they come forward, and for those we have been able to identify from the institution’s database, we have been paying them,” he explained.
Mr Sunday added that the Corporation would continue to recover outstanding loans and dispose of Heritage Bank’s assets to generate funds for the payment of liquidation dividends to depositors whose balances exceeded the insured limit.
Earlier in his remarks, he described the NDIC as a critical pillar of Nigeria’s financial safety net, stressing the need for stronger collaboration between regulators and the National Assembly as the banking sector responds to recapitalisation efforts and rapid financial technology developments.
According to him, while the ongoing banking recapitalisation programme has strengthened the resilience of financial institutions, it must be complemented by sound corporate governance, effective risk management, strict regulatory compliance and robust supervision to safeguard long-term financial system stability.
He also disclosed that more than 98 per cent of depositors, representing over 281 million accounts across insured financial institutions, are fully protected under the NDIC’s deposit insurance scheme.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Zenith Bank Plc is investigating an incident involving unauthorised access to customers’ data, noting that the breach does not involve financial information and has not compromised its banking services or digital channels.
In an email sent to customers on Wednesday, the bank stated that the incident was part of a broader global cyberattack affecting multiple international organisations across various sectors.
The lender stated that it immediately activated its incident response protocols and intensified its cybersecurity and remediation efforts upon discovering the incident.
“This incident is part of a broader, global cyber-attack targeting multiple international organisations across various sectors. Upon discovery, we promptly activated our incident response protocols, cybersecurity actions and remediation efforts,” the bank said.
The bank reassured customers that its banking services and digital channels remain secure and fully operational.
As a precautionary measure, Zenith Bank advised customers to remain alert to potential phishing attempts and other forms of social engineering.
“As a precaution, we encourage our customers to remain vigilant against phishing emails, text messages, or phone calls, and never to disclose their password, PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), or other security credentials to anyone,” the bank said.
The incident is the latest in a series of cybersecurity challenges facing Nigerian financial institutions, with banks in recent months suspending their social media operations over impersonation and other fraudulent activities.
Earlier in April, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) said it was investigating alleged data breaches involving Sterling Bank, Remita and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Nigerian banks have long been prime targets for cybercriminals because of the vast amounts of customer data and financial transactions they handle every day.
While many attacks have traditionally sought to steal funds, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting personal information, which can be used for identity theft, phishing schemes, account takeovers and other forms of financial fraud.
Cybersecurity threats have increasingly targeted Nigerian banks in recent years. In 2025, Union Bank of Nigeria warned customers about fraudulent websites and phishing campaigns designed to steal login credentials and personal information by impersonating the bank.
In August 2024, Guaranty Trust Bank experienced a domain-related security incident that temporarily disrupted access to its official website, although the lender assured customers that their deposits and banking services remained secure while it resolved the issue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The chairman of First HoldCo Plc, Mr Femi Otedola, has affirmed plans to increase his 26 per cent holding in the organisation to 51 per cent, confirming a planned takeover of Nigeria’s oldest banking institution.
Mr Otedola spoke in an exclusive interview with Nairametrics published on Monday, giving a rare direction following recent speculations about the financial institution.
The milestone followed a series of share acquisitions, as Mr Otedola sought to tighten his grip as the company’s largest shareholder following the recent acquisition of additional shares worth N222.21 billion.
In the interview, the mogul said he has invested more than N600 billion of his personal wealth in First HoldCo, describing the move as a “long-term generational commitment” rather than another turnaround investment he would eventually exit.
Responding to speculation that he intends to consolidate his position in the group, Mr Otedola hinted that his investment journey is far from over.
“My investment threshold is always over and above 51 per cent,” he said. “One of my key investment principles is that firm shareholder control, with due regard for minority interest, is a key ingredient to executing reforms and restructuring to deliver value to all stakeholders.”
The businessman said the same strategy had guided his investments in African Petroleum Plc, later renamed Forte Oil Plc, where he gradually increased his shareholding from 28 per cent to 75 per cent before exiting the company in 2019.
He said he also increased his stake in Geregu Power Plc from 51 per cent to 95 per cent before reducing it to 77 per cent after the company’s public listing.
“I am on the same trajectory with First HoldCo Plc,” Mr Otedola said.
“To date, I have invested over N600 billion of my personal wealth in First HoldCo Plc — a figure that speaks not to speculation, but to unflinching confidence in the institution’s future, fundamentals and an unwavering personal commitment to its success.”
Mr Otedola said his decision to invest in First HoldCo came at a time when the institution was facing one of the most challenging periods in its history.
The billionaire steadily increased his investment in the group, accelerating his share purchases in 2026. His stake grew from 6.68 billion shares (15.95 per cent) in June 2025 to 8.06 billion shares by March 2026, then to 9.28 billion shares by June after acquiring about 1.22 billion shares in one quarter. A further purchase through Calvados Global Services last month lifted his holdings above 10 billion shares for the first time.
