First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider, has been ranked the second ‘most admired financial services brand’ in Africa – for the second straight year – at the 2021 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands Event, held on Africa day, 25th May 2021.
Brand Africa is an intergenerational movement to inspire a great Africa through promoting a positive image of Africa, celebrating its diversity and driving its competitiveness. It is a brand-led movement which recognizes that in the 21st century, brands are an asset and a vector of image, reputation and competitiveness of nations.
With over 127 years of being woven into the fabric of society, FirstBank has been at the forefront of promoting growth and development in the country, extending its financial services footprints – through its subsidiaries – to over half a dozen countries across 3 continents. The Bank’s international business presence includes FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.
Through the years, the Bank’s leading digital banking services and innovative products like FirstMobile, USSD, Firstmonie Agent amongst many others, have been essential to promoting cashless transactions in today’s digital age. FirstBank’s digital savviness extends to the social media platforms where it has been ranked by Financial Brand as the number one on Instagram in Nigeria and second globally based on the highest number of fan base/followers and it’s clearly poised to reclaim number 1 position across all parameters.
Appreciating the recognition on behalf of the Bank, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, said, “we are grateful to Brand Africa for the back-to-back recognition as the ‘Second Most Admired Financial Services Brand in Africa’. This is a testament to the impactful role we are playing in promoting socio-economic development in Africa, which includes being at the forefront of bridging the financial inclusion gap as well as our commitment to supporting Small and Medium Enterprises because of the critical role they play in economic growth and development”. He further noted that FirstBank has created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive through various value adding solutions and value propositions.
Only recently, First Bank of Nigeria Limited was awarded 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.