2014 – 2023
Age of Innovation and Rebranding
2014
FirstBank turned 120 years.
Commencement of Transaction Banking to build distinctive transaction capability and implement a clear strategy towards becoming the preferred provider of cash management, trade finance and payments in Nigeria.
Commencement of FirstBank SME Connect – Non-financial services engagement materials and programmes provided to support capacity building for SMEs.
Introduction of Middle Office Transformation – well defined operational levers to decongest branches and transform customer experience, measured by turnaround time.
Commencement of BetaServe – Operations transformation through automation and centralisation of key processes to deliver cost efficiency, effective regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction.
First Trade CoE – Dedicated back-office FX trade resource centre providing expertise support to our customers, through training, advisory services, trade platform processing enquiries and platform support.
BVN – Enrolment and issuance of Bank Verification Number (BVN) to Bank’s customers as part of measures geared towards creating a safe, reliable and efficient payments system by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Introduction of Local Monitor Board (LMB) – To improve branch network profitability through performance improvement strategy and closure as last resort.
Introduction of ‘The Loop’, a lifestyle app providing real time newsfeed aggregating content from various sources local/international based on the user preference.
Introduction of FirstBank Sustainability Centre, located within Lagos Business School of the Pan African University; a centre to position the Bank as a thought leader in the sustainability space.
Rebranding of the SSA Markets – Launched a unified brand, FBNBank, for all newly acquired subsidiaries in Sub-Saharan Africa market to elevate status of the acquired entities in those markets and attain parity top-of-mind awareness and brand presence.
Launch of FBN Holdings Plc Group Corporate Identity/Brand Refresh.
2015
FirstBank was recognised by Interswitch as the first financial institution in the country to achieve 100 million sustained monthly transactions in electronic payment, in December 2015 and again in May 2016.
FirstBank launched the First@art initiative to consolidate its numerous partnerships in promoting the performing arts and other entertainment projects.
Introduction of Project Bali – Divestment of an indirect subsidiary of the Bank involved in outsourcing services as part of regulatory compliance.
FirstMobile App debuts, providing one-stop mobile app access to customers.
Appointment of Mrs. Ibukun Awosika as the first Female Chairman of the Bank.
2016
Launch of FirstLounge, the first Landside Lounge at Murtala Muhammed International Airport on February 28, 2016.
Launch of FirstGem, a women-centric lifestyle product designed for women of all ages across different segments.
Branch Record Digitisation Commenced – Digitisation of legacy manual customer records as part of information and business continuity requirements.
Introduction of Project PACE to significantly improve productivity and collaboration of the Group through the design, deployment and drive adoption of Microsoft productivity tools.
RSAC – Developed a virtual remote sales and advisory customer engagement model along with critical enablers to enhance customer retention, experience and grow share of wallet.
2017
Commencement of *894# USSD Banking.
FirstBank total number of Firstmonie, FirstBank money wallet users hit 4,035,307, March 2017.
FirstBank was awarded ‘Most Valuable Banking Brand’ for the 6th consecutive time in 2017 by The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group.
FirstBank is the first indigenous organisation in Nigeria to launch its Human Resource Solution in the Cloud.
FirstBank in line with regulatory directives, acquired the Minority Interest in FirstBank DRC. This acquisition led to both local and international acceptance of the brand thereby improving the business fortunes of the subsidiary.
2018
FirstBank was named the Best Retail Bank in Nigeria in the Asian Banker Awards for the 7th consecutive time.
FirstBank processed the highest number of transactions on electronic channels in the industry annually – over 1.6 billion (about 33% of the industry volume).
FirstBank was awarded the Best Bank in Nigeria for the 15th time by Global Finance Magazine.
Launch of FirstBank Digital/Innovation Lab – 5 July 2018
FirstBank total number of FirstMonie users hit 4,623,899 as December 2018.
FirstBank provided $200mn part-funding of $3.15bn syndicated facility for construction of Dangote refinery/fertilizer plant.
2019
FirstBank turned 125 years old on 31 March 2019, woven into the fabric of society and beyond comparison.
FirstBank supported the Georgian Cup of Kaduna International Polo Tournament for the 100th year. This sponsorship is the longest standing sports sponsorship association in the world.
FirstBank led the ₦200bn syndicated local currency facility to MTN Nigeria.
British Petroleum appointed FirstBank as it’s Escrow Agent and transactions over $100mn and up to N15bn.
2020
Launch of the Leadership and Management Development Programme for the Bank.
FirstBank has processed over 177 million customer transactions on the Firstmonie network (August 2020)
Processed over $90mn in Trade Transaction to BUA group in one (1) year.
Over 20,000 communicating in virtually all of Nigeria’s 250 languages seamlessly and can offer banking solutions tailored to local needs.
In 2020, we gave out 25,000 retail loans that meant school fees could be paid, schools could upgrade learning facilities, businesses could stay in business; all in spite of the pandemic.
Over 2,900 ATMs across the nation made access to your cash just an ATM away even at the height of the pandemic.
Presence in six (6) African countries offering service to over 30 million citizens speaking 750 languages with diverse banking needs.
Over 4.2 million fan base using the icon of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
FirstMobile, the flagship product from FirstBank with over 4.2million users bagged the Best Mobile Banking App award at BAFI Awards (Bank’s and Other Financial Institutions) and Best Mobile Banking App award at Global Finance Awards.
2021
FirstBank launched the LIT Application targeted at meeting the lifestyle needs of the growing number of youthful customers.
FirstBank opened its first fully automated Digital Experience Centre in Lagos, an optimised one-stop digital banking hub.
FirstBank revamped its website – a more interactive and more user-friendly website capable of transacting in 13 Languages.
FirstBank sponsored the Lagos Amateur Open Golf Tournament for the 60th time. The longest serving consecutive sponsorship of a Golf Tournament in the world.
FirstBank launched the First Virtual Card in Nigeria to enable card holders transact seamlessly on the web.
The Bank attained 2nd position as the most followed financial institution in the world on Instagram with a total number of 834,000 followers.
Lagos State Government appointed FirstBank as the settlement bank for the Lagos State bond proceeds.
2022
FirstBank crossed the N100 billion profit line with an announcement of ₦130.9 billion as profit for 2021 Financial Year.
36 million customers entrust their business with FirstBank, enjoying the benefits of banking without borders.
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, FirstBank launched its SPARK initiative across 10 markets prompting its recognition as the Best CSR Bank in Africa by International Business Magazine.
FirstBank celebrates 40 years of the existence of FirstBank in the United Kingdom.
FirstBank ranked market leader for Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Social and Governance by Euromoney Market Leaders.
First Pension Custodian made a ground-breaking move in the Pension Custody space by acquiring its competitor, Access Pension Fund Custodian. This strategic acquisition significantly boosted the Bank’s market share.
2023
FirstBank crossed the 200,000 Agent Banking locations mark in March 2023, making it the most expansive bank-led Agent Banking Network in Africa.
Effective 31 March 2023, FirstBank commenced the phased name change of all the FirstBank franchises operating as subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (with a branch in Paris), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone, and Senegal, from the FBNBank brand name to be known as FirstBank globally. The pilot phase commenced with the UK, The Gambia and Sierra Leone subsidiaries on Friday, 31 March 2023. The DRC, Ghana, Guinea and Senegal subsidiaries will follow with phased cutover from July 2023 until on or before the end of the year in the phased name change across all our subsidiaries. Therefore, all FirstBank subsidiaries are now poised in a phased name change to FirstBank in alignment with the parent brand and the global uniform identity should be completed by the year end.
FirstBank launched “Fibani”, its Chatbot/Virtual Assistant in the continuous bid at driving customer-led innovation and consolidating on next generation digital capabilities. Chatbots or virtual assistants are a form of digital agents focused on handling customer requests in a conversational manner. Leveraging on a world-class Conversation Artificial Intelligence Platform (CAIP), the overall objective of this initiative is to implement an artificial intelligent-enabled chatbot that can offer customers the convenience of accessing banking services 24/7 without having to physically visit a branch or engage with a bank employee/customer experience agent. Fibani will further enhance FirstBank’s interactions and engagements with our customers, drive efficiency and improve productivity.
FirstBank’s financials hit an all-time high in a record-breaking Half-Year H1 2023 unaudited result with a Profit Before Tax of ₦188.8 billion, up 214.6% y-o-y (June 2022: ₦60.0 billion). Total Assets climaxed to ₦13.6 trillion, y-t-d and Customers’ deposit grew to ₦8.8 trillion, up 26.9% y-t-d, amongst several other impressive indices.
FirstDirect 2.0 was rolled out and over 2,200 customers and 8,000 users were onboarded. More than 4.5 million transactions worth N4 trillion have been processed since its rollout.
