By Eugene Onyeji
It is, indeed, a season of awards for the sterling performance of Nigeria’s premier financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
The country’s leading financial services provider has once again proved its mettle and the global financial community is paying attention.
And as a pat on the back for excellent performance, it has bagged the 2021 ‘’Retail Banking CEO of the Year Nigeria’’, ‘’Most innovative Retail Banking App Nigeria’’ and ‘’Best CSR Bank Nigeria’’ awards by Global Banking and Finance magazine.
The respective awards conferred on the Bank are in recognition of the indelible roles it plays in deepening financial inclusion in the country; advancing the digital banking eco-system as well as impacting people in its host communities with technology to make learning available to individuals of all ages, amongst many others.
The Global Banking and Finance Awards reflect the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the Global Financial community.
The awards were created to recognise companies of all sizes which are prominent in different areas of expertise and excellence within the financial world.
With its over 750 branches and 100,000 Firstmonie Agent banking network spread across the nook and cranny of the country, FirstBank’s robust retail banking framework has been at the forefront of bridging the financial exclusion gap, thereby empowering Nigerians to carry out their financial and business-driven activities in contributing to national growth and development.
Also, in order to put customers ahead in enjoying state of the art digital banking services, the Bank’s industry-leading banking application, FirstMobile, is configured with modern banking functionalities which are regularly upgraded and designed with self-service features to ease the navigation capability and proficiency of customers to carry out their respective transactions with no hassles.
The smart banking application is also embedded with a card protection service for customers to enable and disable cards on channels, account switch off as well as second-factor authentication and device registration.
With the upgraded FirstMobile, customers can remotely initiate the request for a new debit card as well as the replacement of a lost or damaged one.
Woven into the fabric of society for over 127 years, overcoming challenges and remaining a dominant player in Nigeria’s financial services landscape, FirstBank has been partnering and supporting various sustainable activities towards the continued growth of its host communities and the nation at large.
As a responsible corporate organisation committed to supporting all its stakeholders in the most sustainable manner possible, the bank partnered with various state governments through the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) intervention to promote the readiness and efficiency of health care professionals and other compatriots at the forefront of fighting the pandemic.
The Bank also forged a formidable partnership with the Lagos State government, Robert & John, IBM and Curious Learning amongst others to promote e-learning of school children that were affected by lockdown at the height of the pandemic.
The initiative is still enjoyed by thousands of individuals, irrespective of age.
Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the CEO of FirstBank commenting on the awards said: “We are proud to be recognised with these awards, which speak to the investments we have made over the past years in bolstering our electronic platforms for our customers; enhancing financial inclusion through agent banking as well as empowering our communities in the education space especially by bridging the digital divide through e-learning initiative.
“These awards are dedicated to all our customers, as the trust they reposed in us being their bank of first choice in meeting their business and financial needs has been instrumental to the success we have achieved in our existence of over 127 years. We remain committed to putting You, our customers First as we contribute to the growth and development of our host communities.”
