E-Financial
FCMB Explains CBN policies, Products & Services @ Nationwide Customers Meet
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has commenced a nationwide customer forum to educate her customers on the recent cashless policies of CBN; and solicit suggestions aimed at improving the Bank’s services, in its bid to step up engagement with customers across all segments.
With a growing emphasis on Cashless Banking to provide safer financial services to customers, FCMB recognizes the need to significantly increase access to a range of financial services, including savings accounts, payments, transfers and other products and services for its customers and the unbanked population.
The regional meetings held in Abuja, Kano, Onitsha and Port-Harcourt with overwhelming attendance recorded active participation from the Bank’s customers and select clients.
The excitement expressed by participants in the regions was an indication that the initiative was very timely.
The regional forum was also used to explain the programmes of the Bank to the customers including effective banking services.
Some of the questions asked at the forum centered on the new banking policies by CBN; how they will affect local traders as most of their businesses are being transacted in rural areas.
Customers also wanted to know about the charges intra and inter-bank transfers attract and how ready the Bank is in handling the volume of e-transactions that the cashless policy will bring.
Commenting on the need for FCMB to hold regular regional interactions with her customers and clients, Ikechukwu Kalu, group head, Marketing & Communications said: “our customer is the reason we are in business, hence the Bank’s commitment in maintaining regular contact and ensuring that information elicited through these engagements are structured into our strategic and tactical initiatives so we can be better for our customers. We take the voice of the customer seriously and we believe that information sharing is of utmost importance to the growth of our brand. The interactions in the four locations provided quality education on the CBN cashless policy and a good platform for us to receive feedback from our customers on product and services and e-channels”.
He encouraged customers to avail themselves of the cash-less inclined products of the Bank such as FCMBOnline, FCMBMobile, FCMB FlashMeCash, ATMs, Points of Sale (POS) etc as they are simple to use and secure.
Kalu said “the Customer forum along with our other effective communication platforms have been created to engage our customers and clients regularly to further strengthen our commitment to them and increase service delivery across our channels. In our efforts to serve and support smaller businesses, we have in recent times, boosted our Retail Banking expertise, as well as developed a portfolio of cash-lite and mass market banking products to ensure that all fragments of the Nigerian population, regardless of their socio-economic status, have access to the excellent services being offered by FCMB”.
Kalu who also assured the Bank’s clients that FCMB had adequate capital to support them to expand their businesses for the development of the economy, explained that the Bank had adopted strategies and put dedicated staff and resources together to meet the demands of its clients.
He stressed the need for the clients to in turn be loyal and supportive to the Bank to boost effective and efficient service delivery to customers.
The nationwide customer forum initiative is one among many, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) under the leadership of Mr. Ladi Balogun, its group managing director / chief executive officer, has lined-up to take banking to the grassroots and meet the needs of its customers to consolidate its inroad in the retail space.
With its recent restructuring into a holding company (FCMB Group Plc) which provides additional level of governance for the bank, FCMB is now better focused to shareholder and customer value.
By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.
As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.
This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.
The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.
On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.
It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.
In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.
aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.
The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.
According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.
Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.
This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.
As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.
Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.
The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.
SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.
The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.
This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.
World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
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