E-Financial
We are Positioning for Digital leadership and Market Dominance – Adekunle Sonola, CEO Polaris Bank
Polaris Bank, Leading digital financial institution, has assured its customers, financial sector stakeholders, and regulators that the Bank passed its road to recovery years back.
Adekunle Sonola, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the financial institution, stated this in a recent interview, with PROSHAREs team of analysts noting that the Bank is currently on the growth path leading to market dominance.
According to him, careful rethinking and re-strategizing corporate plans creates the bedrock of competitive burst and business sustainability, both attributes that Polaris Bank has focused on in the last few years, working with professional bodies such as PwC, Ernst & Young (E&Y), and KPMG across several corporate verticals.
“The bank has travelled past the recovery road years back; it is currently on the growth road leading to market dominance.
“Adequate capitalization is a key measure of financial health, providing comfort to depositors and affording balance sheet and business growth.
“The bank is presently adequately capitalized, operating well above the 10% minimum requirement for National Banks.
“Nonetheless, we are concluding arrangements to inject Tier II capital into the Balance Sheet to support our growth aspirations. Our shareholders are ready and willing to inject Tier I capital into the books.
“Having instituted best-in-class risk management practices, and maintaining adequate capitalization to support our growth objectives is not one of the bank’s immediate challenges and will not be in the foreseeable future.
“The new owners are committed to providing necessary support towards building a strong and resilient financial position to underwrite transactional activities of the Bank for sustainable value creation,” Sonola assured.
Confirming that the Bank now operates a two-prong ideology of controlling the funding cost and growing earning assets at economic pricing, the Polaris Bank boss noted that earning asset growth is something the Bank is driving at from both the investment and risk asset sides of the business.
“The Bank has consistently been growing its asset base year-on-year (Y-o-Y). The Bank’s recently developed strategic plan will guide the Bank to a position of being a major challenger of Tier 1 banks and be the leader among Tier II banks along all the key performance parameters. Furthermore, the bank’s focus is to be one of the most efficient deposit money institutions in the industry, delivering superior value to its stakeholders, our competition is not of size, but value creation.
“We have revamped our go-to-market structure, broadening our customer base, fine-tuning our product, and supporting service offerings, strengthening personnel sales capacities, and improving our loan onboarding processes. We are very confident our Net interest income and margin will witness considerable growth as our strategies mature.”
Clarifying that cost control is a critical part of the Bank’s tactical and strategic roadmap, Polaris Bank Managing Director said its short-term tactics come from its longer-term strategies, adding that at the tactical level, the Bank is strengthening digital deliveries, and upgrading the capabilities and offerings on Digital Bank, Vulte, for an even more intensive and intuitive experience across customer journeys.
Polaris Bank has also improved its digital play, as reflected in the improvement of technological interfaces that feed into the customer’s journey expectations and experiences.
“We intend to build a dominant digitally led retail franchise and continue to reshape the bank’s business processes and support technology to continuously improve enterprise agility. The key thing is to drive top-notch processes and build agility in customer responsiveness.
“The VULTE product is just one of our service offerings. Indeed, we are creating a digital service reality that is customer service-focused. The technology driving this will scale digital service delivery to enhance our customers’ product or service experiences as we front-load features that fit into their expectations and future possible journey outcomes.
“As financial service platforms get better and continue to be an enabler, a part of the fabric of our modern economy, we will be an integral part of the way people carry out their businesses and we will make their digital journeys an integrated friendly experience. One cannot talk too much about this, but the tea leaves are pointing to a fresh pathway to consumer banking satisfaction.”
Other areas of positive growth in the Bank include the creation of a more powerful customer service experience via improved staff productivity with the best of Polaris Bank staffers driving the process having gone through upskilling and retraining programmes. This ensures we are driving a productivity-sensitive framework that marries staff effort with measurable business contributions.
“We have zeroed in on offering superior customer experience as a competitive tool. The new world of competitiveness requires that corporations are agile and flexible, we are building this into the bank’s operational DNA.
“Our customer journey experiences have been deconstructed across demographics and the service propositions will soon grace banking halls in the next eighteen months at the latest.
“We plan for a stronger balance sheet, with higher loan quality, greater liquidity, larger capital, and resilience to absorb economic shocks. Our loan asset quality has improved significantly, thereby improving liquidity, earnings, and the bank’s capital.
“We are primed to improve our cost-to-income ratio (CIR), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), and Cost-of-Risk ratio (CoR). In the recent past, we saw bumps in the risk area with CoR higher than we would like, but more recently risk quality has improved leading to lower CoR.”
With a focus on customer-centricity, risk management, cost optimization, and technological advancements, Polaris Bank is seen as positioning itself as a major player in the industry, offering superior customer experiences and driving financial performance.
The Bank has been decorated as Nigeria’s Digital Bank of the Year in two successive years; it aims to position itself as a dominant digitally-led retail franchise, delivering superior value to stakeholders
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Africa’s Global Bank, has announced that its Artificial Intelligence chatbot, LEO is now enabled to carry out cross-border payment transactions.
Oliver Alawuba, group managing director/chief executive officer, UBA,
By this, LEO becomes Africa’s first AI-powered chatbot to facilitate cross-border payments, offering customers a seamless and instant way to transfer funds across the continent, a statement by Mr. Ramon Nasir, head of corporate communications at UBA, said.
The platform leverages the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) developed in partnership with the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank), and allows individuals, traders, and corporates to transfer money in local currencies between African countries where the Central Bank has approved PAPSS operations.
Commenting on this milestone, Oliver Alawuba, group managing director/chief executive officer, UBA, said that as Africa’s global bank, UBA is driven by the need to constantly push boundaries and deliver services that speak to the needs of today’s Africa.
“The introduction of cross-border payments on LEO, in partnership with PAPSS, reflects our commitment to digital innovation, Pan-African integration, and customer-centric banking. This is not just a banking upgrade; it is a bold leap into the future of African finance,” he stated.
UBA PAPSS Instant Payment through LEO offers unmatched benefits including instant payments within a few seconds; availability via self-service channels; lower transaction processing fees and zero charges on the beneficiary.
Speaking more on the benefits, Shamsideen Fasola, group head, Retail and Digital Banking, that enhanced security and confidentiality and wider options for remittance products are other benefits that customers stand to gain from the service.
“This is a transformative step in Africa’s financial services landscape. With LEO now fully integrated with the PAPSS infrastructure, UBA customers can send and receive money across African borders in their local currencies within seconds. We’re not just simplifying transactions – we’re fostering intra-African trade and breaking down longstanding barriers to financial inclusion,” Fasola stated.
With this innovation, UBA is empowering account holders, traders, and corporates to transact quickly and efficiently across African markets, formalizing informal trade flows and supporting the broader goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
As the first bank to enable cross-border payments via its chatbot on the continent, UBA continues to lead in innovation, customer experience, and digital banking transformation.
United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group wide and serving over 45 million customers globally.
Operating in twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting-edge technology.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to introduce a USSD Ponzi schemes and illegal investment activities in Nigeria.
Dr. Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja.
He said the verification code will be officially launched during the upcoming Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting scheduled for this quarter.
“We are introducing a USSD system that allows mobile phone users to verify the status of any capital market operator. It doesn’t require internet access, meaning anyone with a mobile phone can check if someone is duly registered with the SEC,” Agama said.
He explained that the initiative aims to empower Nigerians to easily identify fake investment promoters.
“If anyone comes to you claiming to be a capital market operator, you can instantly verify their registration using the code,” he added.
Agama emphasized that the Commission is intensifying efforts to eliminate unregistered and prohibited schemes, adding that the SEC has a national responsibility to educate the public on legitimate wealth creation.
“The essence of our regulation is wealth redistribution through legitimate investment platforms like public offerings, Collective Investment Schemes, and other structured products regulated by the SEC,” he said.
He noted that the Commission is working with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to introduce capital market education from an early age, including the use of games for financial learning.
The SEC is also partnering with other agencies to promote financial literacy and responsible investing.
Agama stressed that registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) does not automatically authorize a company to offer investment services. Only firms registered with the SEC are legally permitted to operate in the capital market.
“The first question anyone should ask an investment promoter is whether they are registered with the SEC,” he said.
“We have licensed stockbrokers, accountants, solicitors, and agents called sponsored individuals who are authorized to give investment advice.”
He further highlighted the significance of the recently signed Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025, which classifies Ponzi and other fraudulent schemes as “prohibited,” with tougher penalties for violators.
“President Bola Tinubu signed the Act into law within one week, demonstrating his commitment to protecting Nigerians. Under the Act, violators will face a minimum fine of ₦20 million, which can go up to ₦1 billion, and a prison term of up to 10 years,” he said.
Agama also warned celebrities and influencers promoting Ponzi schemes that the SEC now has legal powers to prosecute them.
He reiterated the SEC’s warning to the public to avoid unregistered schemes promising unrealistic returns, stressing that such platforms are not regulated and do not offer investor protection.
Investors are encouraged to verify the registration status of any firm or product via the SEC’s website or by contacting the Commission directly.
Agama affirmed the SEC’s commitment to investor protection, fair practices, and restoring confidence in Nigeria’s capital market.
Polaris Bank Limited recently hosted a hybrid capacity-building seminar for approximately 500 journalists both in Nigeria and internationally. The seminar, themed “Empowering Journalists in the Digital Age: Storytelling, Tools & Transformation,” aimed to equip media professionals with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in today’s rapidly changing journalism landscape.
L-R: Miss Adaku Sharon Nwankwo, Digital PR Executive, Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Rasheed Bolanriwa, Acting Head, Brand Management & Corporate Communications, Polaris Bank; Mr. Abayomi Adisa, Senior Journalist, BBC and Mrs. Bukola Oluyadi, Group Head, Customer Experience & Value Management at Polaris Bank during the hybrid capacity-building seminar organised by the Bank for journalists in Lagos recently.
In a welcome address, Rasheed Bolarinwa, Head of Brand Management & Corporate Communications at Polaris Bank, highlighted the bank’s longstanding tradition in media education. He pointed out that Polaris Bank has been investing in such initiatives for the past 12 years and confidently stated that the bank has been in the vanguard in digital capacity building for the Nigerian media. Bolarinwa stressed that enhancing the skills of journalists ultimately benefits society as a whole.
Drawing from a well-known Chinese proverb, he explained that the bank prefers to teach people how to fish rather than simply giving them fish to eat. Empowering journalists to become self-sufficient, he said, is the guiding principle behind the Polaris bank’s executive management annual approval and support of the seminar.
The media seminar featured training sessions led by two prominent journalists: Mr. Taiwo Obe, Founder and Director of The Journalism Clinic, and Mr. Abayomi Adisa, a senior journalist with BBC. Obe reminded participants of the fundamental purpose of journalism, quoting veteran American journalist Tom Rosenstiel: “The purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.”
Obe discussed the significant transformation journalism has undergone since the early 2000s, driven by technological innovation. He highlighted the emergence of mobile journalism (Mojo), which allows journalists to capture, produce, and share news content in real-time. Obe mentioned Reuters’ 2007 introduction of the Mojo Toolkit, which included the Nokia N95, a small tripod, compact wireless keyboard, solar charger, and external microphone, as a milestone that made it easier for reporters to deliver news on the go.
He encouraged journalists to explore and utilize a variety of free digital applications available on the Google Play Store. By embracing these tools, journalists can go beyond traditional text-based reporting and incorporate audio, video, and interactive graphics to tell more compelling stories. Obe also highlighted the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in Nigerian newsrooms, noting that AI is now being used for tasks such as copy editing, content illustration, content strategy, and advertising targeting, which opens new avenues for efficiency and creativity in journalism.
He further advised journalists to leverage the data from their news stories in innovative ways, suggesting that they transform story data into guidebooks, archival material, issue analyses, position papers, recommendations, puzzles, Q&As, and even inspiration for full-length books.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abayomi Adisa, who focused his presentation on writing for social media, urged participants to harness the magic of making their audiences stop, engage, and share their posts. Adisa outlined key strategies for crafting effective posts and teasers, ensuring that the content is personal, relevant to the audience, engaging, shareable, and concise. He acknowledged that social media is an environment characterized by distraction and noise, so content must be both influential and personally resonant to capture attention.
Speaking at the seminar, Mrs. Bukola Oluyadi, Group Head of Customer Experience & Value Management at Polaris Bank, during her closing remarks emphasized the bank’s commitment to supporting the media industry. She remarked that these seminars are crucial, as no industry or organization can flourish without the involvement and backing of the media.
Oluyadi stated that capacity building is not a one-time effort but a continuous process. She noted, “People cannot improve with the status quo of yesterday; we need to keep building.” According to her, the bank is dedicated to sustaining this initiative annually, fully aware that consistent investment in the media is essential for long-term growth and sustainability.
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