Nigeria’s leading retail bank, FirstBank has become the first Nigerian bank to reach a transaction volume of 100 million in a month on the Interswitch platform in Nigeria.
This milestone was reached in the month of December 2015 and represents the total transactions processed by FirstBank on the Interswitch transaction switching platform for the period.
“This shows the FirstBank’s commitment to lead the drive to move the Nigerian economy away from traditional cash and other generic payment to modern e-Payment platforms” saidChuma Ezirim, Group Head, e-business at FirstBank on reaching the milestone.
Ezirim explained that “as Nigeria’s leading financial institution with over 10 million customers, this achievement by FirstBank aligns with our strategic intent to promote financial inclusion, support the cashless policy drive of the Central Bank of Nigeria and boost economic growth via e-payments across Nigeria and the African continent”
Akeem Lawal, Divisional CEO, Switching and Processing, Interswitch commended FirstBank for being the first bank to reach the 100 million transaction milestone.
“It really says something about the strength and development of electronic transactions in Nigeria that a single banking partner can record 100 million transactions in a single month. When you add this figure to that of our other partners, then you can begin to have an idea of the sheer size and demand for electronic financial services in Nigeria.”
Happy with the achievement, Adesola Adeduntan, the GMD/CEO of FirstBank, assured that FirstBank will continue to employ novel approaches in providing secure and convenient banking services for its customers.
“FirstBank’s investment in e-business reflects our commitment to promoting financial inclusion which is widely regarded as a lever for sustainable economic growth and development as well as enhancing entrepreneurship. Our passion to serve and extend financial services to the unbanked has since inspired several innovations and we thank our esteemed customers for their continued patronage and trust in our services” the bank’s GMD said.
FirstBank in 2012 also received a Milestone Achievement Award as the first bank to hit a 5 million mark of Verve card issuance to its customers.
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, is Nigeria’s leading financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings and one of the largest corporate and retail banking financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa)
FirstBank operates an extensive distribution network with over 750 business locations. The Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services and has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank DR Congo, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone and FBNBank Senegal as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.
