Banking
The New Power of Social Media; Even Banks Can No Longer Ignore
Millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000 — are unlike previous generations in so many ways. They are highly opinionated, educated and are digitally native. They have a reputation for being tech-savvy, collaborative, optimistic, achievement-oriented and socially conscious. Brands that are keen on reaching them must go to places where they can meet them. In view of this, many brands have become very active on social media, where millennials spend at least 6 hours per week. In 2017, 71 percent of internet users were social network users and these figures are expected to grow. These statistics show where every brand that wants to remain relevant in future needs to be.
Already, social media has started transforming banking relationships in very significant ways. Customers have relied on popular social media platforms to easily reach out to banks in a bid to seek quicker resolution to their complaints. Banks have also used these platforms to improve customer service by prompt response to queries and provision of useful information to customers. This trend is expected to continue, as we are beginning to see Fintechs use social media data to help people get access to credit. There is even a school of thought with the belief that social media platforms may be the banks of the future. No matter what you think of the possibilities social media bring, one thing is certain, any brand that wants to remain relevant in the future must take social media seriously.
Last year, Femi Oguntamu of Penzaarville, a Lagos-based digital marketing startup debuted Handle It Africa, a social media conference themed Social Media: Language of Expression. The conference was made possible by the support of organisations like Wema Bank, whose interest in constantly looking for innovative ways to engage customers has led to its growing interest in social media. The innovative Bank which launched ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank in 2017, is supporting Handle It Africa again this year in keeping with its commitment to supporting small businesses that continuously implement innovative ideas for growth. This year’s theme Social Media: Expanding Influence, Broadening Thoughts, will see discussions about the influence of social media taken further.
Businesses are increasingly seeing the need to be more active on social media, with key events like product launches now taken online to actively target the important market segment that spend more than 6 hours online every week. Even banks now see social media as a very useful tool in customer service, community building, product research and marketing.
The growing influence of social media in brand enhancement and marketability of products have encouraged brands to increasingly engage the services of viral-ready comedians who offer attractive instant visibility extending over 150,000 viewers, given their huge following online. ALAT, for example, engaged the services of Maraji, a social media sensation, to promote its Virtual Dollar Card. A single post by the female comedian was viewed by over 200,000 people on Instagram alone. Such is the power of social media today!
Discussions that happen in conferences like Handle It Africa reinforce the importance of social media and ends with fresh ideas that can help individuals and businesses further exploit the opportunities presented by the different available social media platforms.
Wema Bank has over the last one year increased its use of social media to engage its customers, as it continues to roll out digital banking solutions tailored to people’s needs.
ALAT, Wema’s digital bank has over the last one year, won 8 awards, both locally and internationally.
Funmilayo Falola, who heads Brand and Marketing Communications at Wema Bank reiterates the importance of social media to brands. “If 75% of the global workforce in the next seven years are millennials and millennials spend more than 6 hours on social media every week, any brand that is serious about the future needs to be on social media,” she says.
“That said, brands need to be strategic about the platforms they use. You do not need to be on all social media platforms as a brand. Look for the platforms unique to your target audience and come up with an effective strategy that will ensure you achieve your set objectives,” Falola adds.
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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