E-Financial
UBA Unwraps One-Stop e-Payment Portal
e-Commerce in Africa is set to receive a boost as United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has introduced an online payments and collections platform tagged U-bills.
The online payment platform has been enabled in all the 19 countries where UBA has operations.
U-bills, is a collection and bill payments platform that allows sellers to collect payments online or on their mobile devices like tablets and smart phones.
It also provides a one-stop platform for customers to make payments for goods and services on their mobile phones, tablets or personal computers as long as they have an internet connection on the devices.
“The uniqueness of the U-Bills platform is that it is a single payment gateway where all forms of payments to different merchants can be made. It is not a single-merchant platform. All merchants can register on U-Bills to receive payments for goods and services. Also, anyone can go online and register to make payments for goods and services bought” explained Yinka Adedeji, divisional head, e-banking.
With U-bills, customers have the flexibility to make online payments anytime of the day or night or week to sellers for goods bought or services rendered.
“This means, it no longer matters where you are in the world. So far you are African and are from any of the Countries where UBA is, you can now pay your bills, top up phones of your loved ones and still pay for services without moving an inch.”
Customers registered on U-Bills can recharge their mobile phones, pay their cable TV bills quickly and easily and pay their utility bills in any of the 19 countries in Africa where UBA has operations.
Already, some top merchants that have registered on U-Bills to receive payments include leading telecom operators like; MTN (top-up and post-paid), Etisalat, Glo, and Airtel. Customers of these telecom operators registered on U-Bills, can buy air-time or top-up on the U-Bills platform.
Other service providers currently registered on the U-Bills platform include; Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Abuja Geographic Information Systems, Bells University of Technology Limited among others.
Any type of registered business, small or big, providers of services or sellers of goods, can register on the U-Bills platform to receive payment for goods and services offered for sale.
The U-Bills platform accepts VISA and MasterCard as well as the local Card schemes and other payment platforms in the different countries where UBA has its operations.
Merchants must be UBA account holders to register to use U-Bills which will be activated on a Merchant’s platform within 72 hours of registration. U-Bills has no monthly or annual Charges. All charges are based on transactions and are country specific.
Payments on the U-Bills platform are safe and secure and protected by the best in class IT security features that is line with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards for card payments.
U-Bills is just one of the latest payment options from the UBA Group, an acknowledged leader in the African e-payment banking space.
A highly diversified financial services provider and one of the largest financial institutions in Africa, with business offices in New York and Paris and a subsidiary in London, The UBA Group controls significant market share in 19 different African countries.
The Group has a strong retail penetration across the African continent with more than 10 million customers who enjoy a bouquet of products and services tailored to meet their different financial needs and backed by a cutting edge e-banking platform that offers secured and convenient real-time online banking services.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
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