The First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) is the largest bank in Nigeria. It has it’s headquarters in Lagos. FBN begun in 1894 as the first banking company of Nigeria. It also has more than 750 branches in UK, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Johannesburg and other countries.
The History of FBN.
The bank started as a small operation in the office of Elder Dempster and company in Lagos. It became a Limited Liability Company in 1894. At that time the head office was in Liverpool. It began its operation under the name of the Bank for British West Africa. This was after it had succeeded the African banking corporation. BBWA became a great success in West Africa.
As a result, the bank opened branches in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1896 and Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1898. The bank also opened a second branch in old Calabar in 1900. Also, in the next two years, it opened more operations in Northern Nigeria. In 1985, the bank shifted it’s operations to local stations. This resulted in five regional administrations. The also bank kept changing to adapt to the changing conditions in the economy. As a result of these adjustments, it was later renamed to the First Bank of Nigeria in 1991.
The leadership.
The managing team of FBN comprises of 13 board of directors. Ibukun A. Awosika is the chairperson. She is a business woman, motivational speaker and author. Ibukun has worked as an audit trainee at Akitola Williams and company. After that she went to Alibert Nigeria limited as a showroom manager. She also established Quebees Limited in 1989, it started as a furniture manufacturing company and evolved to SOKOA Chair Centre Limited. Ibukun is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund. She is former chairperson of Trustees of Women in Management, Business and Public Service. In 2011 she co-founded the after school graduate development centre.
Services offered at the FBN.
The FBN offers the following services: Corporate banking, Savings account and Institutional banking.
Corporate Banking.
No matter what type of business their clients are doing, their needs are the FBN’s priority. The FBN has the latest solutions to support its customer’s growth. The bank has insights on how to improve liquidity, manage risks and help customers achieve growth. Your bankers have the necessary expertise to for your business. They offer services and right solutions seasoned with advice to help you achieve your objectives. The advice includes offering knowledge on local market to support your business.
Savings Account.
Through first save FBN offers flexible terms for customers to manage their savings and investments. First save provides choices to online savings accounts, namely; easy access, fixed rate bonds or Notice. These choices are there to suit the diverse customers’ needs.
Fixed Rate bonds offers the following:
- Limited availability
- Minimum investment £1,000
- A monthly interest with a minimum balance of £5,000.
- a choice of bonds to suit your needs
- Competitive fixed rates
- Annual interest with a minimum balance of £1,000.
Notice Account offers the following:
- Annual interest with a minimum balance of £100
- Competitive interest rates
- Monthly interest with a minimum balance of £5,000.
- Online account access and, Low initial deposit
The Easy Access Account offers the following:
- Easy online operation 24/7
- Monthly interest with a minimum balance of £5,000.
- Annual interest with a minimum balance of £100,
- Competitive interest rate.
- Small initial deposit.
Institutional Banking.
The institutional banking group partners with financial institutions (FIs), global exporters and non-bank financial institutions. This aids dissemination of a range of products to facilitate commerce into and out of African markets. Due to experience and expertise the bank’s team understands the African market thus they offer specialized service. They also enhance export flows from Middle East and Europe into Africa. The offer the following solutions under this service: correspondent banking, trade finance, cash management and payment solutions, loan syndication and distribution, and FX and money market solutions.
