Banking Briefs, BREAKING NEWS
–
THE Diamond Bank plc has dismissed the news reports in some sections of the media (not Realnews) that Alex Otti, its group managing director, is involved in a fraud case currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The bank said that Otti has never been involved in any case of fraud pending before the EFCC, either now or in the past.
“Otti is a highly respected and experienced banker who has worked meritoriously in the Nigerian banking sector for over two decades, and risen to the top through hard work and the display of a high sense of integrity. We deplore this cheap and unwarranted attempt to rubbish his professional reputation and impeccable track record through false and unsubstantiated allegations.
“We expect those peddling this falsehood to have at the very least sought confirmation from the EFCC before going to town with their libelous publications. Such an enquiry would definitely have established the true state of affairs,” the bank said. Otti has, accordingly, briefed his lawyers, and will not hesitate to institute legal proceedings for libel against those involved, if the publication of this false and damaging report is not retracted, and discontinued forthwith.
UBA’s Investment in the Power Sector
THE United Bank for Africa Plc, UBA, has spent N113billion to support different investors to acquire assets in the recently privatised power sector in Nigeria. Phillips Oduoza, group managing director, gave the figure while speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He said that it is a growth sector in which the bank is playing very big and besides power, UBA was also heavily involved in the nation’s telecommunications sector where the bank had taken part in most of the big-ticket transactions. “UBA has a deliberate policy to continue to fund agriculture. Our lending to the sector is already above the industry average. We are doing about seven per cent of our total portfolio in agriculture,” he said.
He commended the fact that lending to agriculture is generally on the upward trend from Nigerian banks, stating that banking sector funding to agriculture had moved from just about 0.5 percent of total industry portfolio prior to 2009 to about 4.9 percent. Oduoza explained that UBA was expanding its electronic banking products to improve the way it serves its more than seven million customers.
According to him, the bank had rolled out an array of electronic banking products, from cards to point of sale terminals, which will help reduce the cost to income ratio of the bank while making a positive impact on the bottom line. He, however, explained that Nigeria still remained the dominant contributor to the UBA Group’s bottom line, making up an average of 75 percent of the group’s balance sheet while the rest of Africa contributes 25 percent.
Ecobank Backs CBN’s Cash-Lite Initiative
ECOBANK Nigeria is committed to the cash-lite policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. This prompted the bank to unveil a ‘card 4 prizes promo’ to promote the use of alternative payment channels by customers. According to the bank, the promo which is meant to run for three months will see its customers winning prizes such as sedan cars, all-expense paid trip to Brazil and scholarships valued at N300, 000 each for different sets of winners.
Tunde Kuponiyi, Ecobank head, Cards and e-banking, said that there would be three monthly draws and a grand finale to be held in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. According to him, 15 winners will emerge monthly from the draws. He said that each of these winners will take home smart phones, LCD TVs, air conditioners, home theatres and power generating sets, adding that there is also an instant reward for customers who walk into any of the bank branches to pick up debit cards and activate them instantly.
He explained that a point based rating would be utilised in choosing winning customers and this means that customers would be awarded points for every transaction done on the bank’s alternative channels. “The alternative channels, include cash withdrawals from Ecobank’s ATMs, purchases on Point of Sale terminals and Internet payments. Value Added Services referring to other transactions done via the ATM such as interbank transfers, quick teller bills payment amongst others, would be counted as Internet payments,” Kuponiyi said.
According to him, customers are expected to accumulate a minimum of 20 points to qualify for the monthly draw, while the grand finale draw would be based on total accumulated points during the course of the promo.
Compiled by Chinwe Okafor
— Feb. 10, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags:
