Overview of FirstBank

• Group Structure
• History of First Bank of Nigeria
• Products and Services
• Bank Operating Model

Group Structure

The FirstBank Group comprises 10 subsidiaries, spanning asset management, investment banking, capital markets, insurance, microfinance, private equity and foreign exchange trading – making it one of the most diversified financial conglomerates on the continent.

History of First Bank of Nigeria

Founded in 1894, First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FirstBank) is the premier bank in West Africa and the leading financial services solutions provider in Nigeria. The Bank's contribution to the economic growth and development of Nigeria over the last 116 years has been driven by commitment to the provision of excellent banking services.

At inception, the Bank was incorporated as a limited liability company under the name Bank of British West Africa (BBWA), with the head office originally in Liverpool.

In response to a rapidly changing economic and business environment, we have at various times restructured our operations. In 1957 we changed our name from Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) to Bank of West Africa (BWA). In 1966, following our merger with Standard Bank, UK, we adopted the name Standard Bank of West Africa Limited and in 1969 we were incorporated locally as the Standard Bank of Nigeria Limited in line with the Companies Decree of 1968. Changes in our name also occurred in 1979 and 1991 to First Bank of Nigeria Limited and First Bank of Nigeria Plc, respectively.

FirstBank opened its second branch in Nigeria in Calabar in 1900 and, 12 years later, extended its services to Northern Nigeria by opening its Zaria branch. The Kano branch was opened in 1928. Currently with over 570 branches, the FirstBank Group has one of the largest branch networks in Nigeria. In 2002, FirstBank established a wholly owned banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom, FBN Bank (UK) Limited, regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). We thus became the first Nigerian bank to own a fully fledged bank in the UK. In 2007, FBN Bank (UK) set up its Paris office to serve as a marketing base to service francophone West Africa. FirstBank also has a representative office in South Africa and has obtained a licence to open a representative office in China.

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Products and Services

As a full-spectrum financial services provider our products/ services mix has been designed to cater to the needs of our diverse client base. Increasingly strong on services delivered via various electronic platforms, the primary concern is to improve customer transaction convenience and ease of access to our services, as well as strengthen transaction security.

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Bank Operating Model

At First Bank of Nigeria Plc we have structured our market-facing activities along geographic lines. This arrangement recognises the nation's historical endowment and the tendency for buyer responses across the economy to take on discernible geographic traits. As the economy develops further, newer patterns that may allow organisation along functional lines have begun to emerge, but these are still in the embryonic stage.