Banking
We’re Prepared for Emerging Economic Realities—GTBank
By Dipo Olowookere
Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr Segun Agbaje, has expressed the readiness of the pan-African financial institution for the emerging economic realities.
Since the beginning of this year, the world has been battling with the Coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the global economy to a halt.
Many businesses have had to be shut down, while others still operating have been doing so remotely. At the moment, no one knows when the virus would be defeated and the possibility of having a vaccine for its is still far away, about 9 months or more, according to health experts.
But in the midst of the crisis, GTBank, under the leadership of Mr Agbaje, recorded a strong performance in the first quarter of this year.
On Wednesday, the company released its unaudited financial results for the period ended March 31, 2020, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
GTBank reaffirmed its position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria with the good performance across all financial indices.
In the period, the profit before tax stood at N58.2 billion, representing a growth of 2.1 percent over N57.0 billion recorded in the corresponding period of March 2019.
The lender’s loan book grew by 8.0 percent from N1.502 trillion as at December 2019 to N1.622 trillion in March 2020, while customers’ deposit increased by 9.3 percent to N2.768 trillion from N2.533 trillion in the same period.
The bank maintained a well-structured and diversified balance sheet with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at N4.057 trillion and N661.1 billion respectively.
Full impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 23.5 percent. In terms of asset quality, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) improved to 6.0 percent and 0.1 percent in March 2020 from 6.5 percent and 0.3 percent in December 2019 respectively.
Loan loss coverage also improved to 130.5 percent for Lifetime Credit Impaired Loans (NPLs) compared with 126.6 percent in December 2019.
Mr Agbaje, in his reaction to the earnings, admitted that, “These are very difficult and uncertain times, not just for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole, but also for hundreds of millions of people around the world whose lives and livelihoods have been put at risk by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He said, “At GTBank, we know that the impact of this pandemic may sustain for months to come, but we remain positive that, by staying nimble and continuing to build on the strength of our businesses, we are appropriately positioned to cope with emerging economic realities, as reflected in our first quarter result.”
The banking executive further stated that, “As a platform for enriching lives, our focus is on safeguarding lives and livelihoods.
“That is why we are working round the clock to keep all our members of staff and customers safe, supporting the government in combatting the pandemic and being there for our customers in every way that they may need our support at this time.”
Overall, Guaranty Trust Bank plc continues to be best-in-class in the Nigerian banking industry in terms of financial ratios i.e. Post-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 29.7 percent, Post-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 5.1 percent, and Cost to Income ratio of 40.6 percent.
These ratios reflect the management stability and well-structured Balance sheet coupled with operational efficiency.
In recognition of the bank’s bias for world-class corporate governance standards, excellent service delivery, and innovation, GTBank has been a recipient of numerous awards over the years.
Some of the awards include Best Bank in Africa and Best Bank in Nigeria, by the Euromoney Magazine (2019), Best Banking Group and Best Retail Bank Nigeria from World Finance Magazine (2019), Bank of the Year – Nigeria from the Banker Magazine (2018), Most Innovative Bank from the African Investor (2018), and Best Digital Banking Brand in Nigeria from the Global Brands Magazine (2018).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Global financial payments giant, Visa, has made a strategic investment of $10 million in Nigerian fintech unicorn, Moniepoint, to expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on the African continent.
This development comes three months after Moniepoint raised $110 million in a Series C funding round that made the company a unicorn.
With the new play, Visa joins other investors, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, Lightrock, QED Investors, Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), Global Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst as equity partners.
This partnership will combine Moniepoint’s local expertise and innovative business model with Visa’s global resources and capabilities to offer payment solutions to businesses and entities.
Moniepoint provides banking and payment services to small and medium businesses and retail banking. It is one of the market leaders in Nigeria’s agent banking space, with over 300,000 POS agents and has processed billions of transactions since it was founded in 2015.
The new Visa’s investment will further help Moniepoint expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on a continent that still has a comparatively low rate of financial services adoption.
Moniepoint will leverage Visa’s Cybersource system to gain better visibility into transactions. Additionally, it plans to integrate with Visa Direct for remittances and money transfers as it looks to expand into markets within and outside Africa.
Speaking on the move, Mr Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint said, “Visa’s backing is a strong endorsement of our vision to digitize and support African businesses at scale.
“We aim to deepen financial inclusion, enabling SMEs to access the tools and resources they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.”
On his part, Mr Andrew Torre, Regional President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa, noted that, “Moniepoint has built an impressive platform that directly addresses the needs of Africa’s SMEs, a critical segment in enabling economic development.
”By making financial services and digital payments more accessible and efficient, Moniepoint is helping transform how businesses operate in Nigeria and beyond.
“We are excited to support their next phase of growth and innovation,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
Efforts are being made by the management of a rapidly growing financial technology (fintech) company,
Bankit Microfinance Bank (MFB), to grow its loan and gaming services.
The firm said this is one of its targets for 2025 to solidify its position as a leading platform for comprehensive, simplified banking activities after it recorded remarkable growth in 2024 with different milestones as a result of its competitive edge and cutting-edge technology.
The digital financial services provider said it was already talking to its various partners on how to ensure customers get more access to credit facilities for different needs.
It said nothing would be spared to revolutionise digital banking in Nigeria, especially with a focus on innovation, customer protection, and financial inclusion.
Last year, Bankit MFB, within its first few weeks of operations, successfully registered over 50,000 users on its platform, a testament to its innovative simple banking approach to digital banking.
This year, the small lender has an ambitious plan to increase this by 900 per cent to a record 500,000 businesses in 2025.
Business Post gathered that in 2024, the financial institution recorded impressive transaction values, exceeding N100 million, with an impressive 90 per cent transaction success rate.
Since joining the business, it has introduced web banking and other innovative banking products, with more in development.
With the financial services sector not immune to fraud, Bankit MFB said it prioritises the protection of customers’ funds, expressing its commitment to diversifying its digital services to enhance customer experience.
Bankit MFB is a financial institution licenced to operate in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is dedicated to providing innovative, customer-centric financial solutions to individuals and others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, launch a foreign exchange (FX) code designed to boost the integrity of the market.
A statement from the banking sector regulator on Wednesday said the FX code would be unveiled at its headquarters in Abuja next week.
It explained the forex code will serve as a guideline for the ethical conduct of FX dealers in the Nigerian forex landscape.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code as a guideline to the banking industry to promote the ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“The bank will formally launch the code at the CBN Head Office Auditorium, Abuja, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025,” the statement read.
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