First Bank of Nigeria Plc has, once again, been adjudged the best bank in Nigeria and seventh in the whole of Africa, according to the year 2004 report of The Banker, a publication of the Financial Times of London in which 100 top banks in Africa were ranked. This is coming on the heels of the Bank’s firming up of an agreement to provide MasterCard services in the country, deployment of about 100 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and linkage with numerous Point-of-Sale (PoS) payment terminals across the country, among other e-banking initiatives.

According to The Banker, the criteria for picking FirstBank as the number one in the country include Tier 1 Capital, asset base, capital – assets ratio, profit growth, profit on capital, returns on assets and cost – income ratio.

Attesting to the giant steps the Bank has made in electronic banking, a South African university don, Professor Joe Amadi – Echendu, also commended the Bank for its bold and leading intiative in deploying Information Communication Technology ICT in its operations across the country. Amadi – Echendu, a professor of Engineering and Technology Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa, said FirstBank’s ability to deploy sophisticated ICT banking systems is particularly noteworthy when one considers the prevailing poor infrastructure which, more or less, presents a sizeable barrier to business operations in Nigeria.

As a foremost InterSwitch member bank, FirstBank provides an avenue for the populace to use debit cards, which can be used on all payment terminals (ATMs, POS, etc) deployed by InterSwitch and Cards Technology Limited (CTL), both switch networks. FirstBank’s leading role in IT deployment in banking is based on the Bank’s belief that these e-banking services are excellent developments that will contribute greatly to the evolution of the e-payment strategy and the extension of the services available to their customers. InterSwitch Limited, a transaction switching and processing company that provides online, real-time interactive commerce solutions announced the signing of an interconnect memorandum of understanding with Cards Technology Limited (CTL), the first company in Nigeria that has been approved by MasterCard International to become a MasterCard Service Provider (MSP). The aim of this partnership is to extend the value available on both networks to the member banks.

By this agreement, debit cards issued by InterSwitch member banks can be used on all payment terminals (ATMs, POS, etc) deployed by Cards Technology Limited (CTL) and vice versa. ln addition, InterSwitch would be able to process all MasterCard transactions. Currently, InterSwitch has an online, real-time integration to 22 banks and by this connection, all entities on the InterSwitch network have the basic infrastructure to enable inter-bank transaction.