The custodian of Africa’s first fully digital bank – ALAT, and one of Nigeria’s leading commercial banks, Wema Bank, celebrates the season of love with its customers in an array of ways including providing Special Gift Cards for celebrants to gift their loved ones.

The bank started the season of love by reminding its customers about the importance of self-love and the need to love their partners the way they want to be loved. With a week-long campaign on its social media platforms, Wema Bank called out its growing following to dig deep and identify the things that make them tickle which will help them to define how they want to be loved.

Aside the bank’s initiative to celebrate its customers across channels, the bank decided to make gift cards available because, according to Wema Bank’s communications lead, Olufunmilayo Falola, many people worry about the perfect gift to get their loved ones and often end up buying what they like as opposed what their loved ones like or want.

The Wema Bank Special Gift Card is to alleviate both stress and uncertainty that may come with picking a gift, and ensure that people get their desired gifts from their loved ones on Valentine’s Day and every other day. With a Wema Bank Gift Card, customers can be sure to offer their loved ones gifts that excite them any day, anytime.

Wema Bank is also encouraging its customers to spend more time with their loved ones or significant other and have fun with one another, out of the home. The bank is sponsoring some of its customers on dates to celebrate their love this season. With transactions worth fifty thousand naira or more in the month of February, active customers will be selected through a raffle draw on February 24, 2020.

Known for its trailblazing solutions in fintech and providing financial services that support the lifestyle of its customers, ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank is supporting salary earners with instant loans.

ALAT salary-based loan is a low-interest loan available to the bank’s existing as well as new salary earning customers who may or may not have their salary account domiciled with Wema Bank.

Riding on its reputation of offering seamless financial services, ALAT customers will be able to access the salary-based loan without any form of paperwork, from the comfort of their ALAT app or the ALAT web page without any collateral.

Salary earners will be able to receive a minimum of #50,000 and up to #4,000,000 within hours and will have between 3 to 24 months to pay back with only 2% interest rate per month on a reducing balance basis.

According to the bank’s Brand and Marketing Communications Manager, Mrs Funmilayo Falola, the salary-based loan is an initiative of the bank to avail salary earners emergency funds to meet needs that otherwise cannot wait for the next payday or that require additional funding.

Mrs Falola stated that the profiled salary-earners that can profit from the loan range from Oil and Gas and Financial industry workers, Fintechs, Insurance and FMCG staff. She further confirmed that the process of getting the salary-based loan is entirely online – on the ALAT app or web page – and begins with downloading the app from android or IOS apps store for new customers and a simple login with a click on the ‘Loan’ icon for ALAT registered customers on the ALAT app or web page.

To ensure that customers have a hitch-free registration process, ALAT app has been updated to include a video run-through of the process of registration at the sign-up page. Customers can also get a simple explainer of each step of the registration process by clicking on the ‘i’ icon on each page on the app.

Also, for customers to have financial confidence and freedom, ALAT has introduced a zero balance. This means that customers can withdraw their money to the last kobo and there will be no charges should any customer maintain a zero balance on their account.

Wema Bank, Nigeria’s leading innovative bank, is deepening pan-African trade services for its customers through its bilateral partnership agreement with Bank of Africa Group (BOA).

The partnership agreement, which was announced on October 14, 2019, by Mr Ademola Adebise, MD/CEO of Wema Bank Plc and Mr Amine Bouabid, CEO of BOA, is aimed at enhancing the relationship between both banks and delivering sustainable and value-adding support for business growth and profitability across the continent.

Through the partnership, both banks will gain an opportunity to promote bilateral trade services which will include Import and Export services, Bonds and Guarantees, and Structured Finance collaborations.

In keeping with the tenets of the partnership agreement, activities around corresponding banking, trade facilitation and remittances will kickstart between Wema Bank and BOA Ghana.

This opportunity will also envisage the full implementation of Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), with a focus on the manufacturing, power and agriculture sectors, as well as Nigerian business community in Ghana, Wema Bank customers in Nigeria can now trade and make remittances seamlessly with BOA customers in Ghana.

According to Mr Adeola Ajai, Head Global Trade and Correspondent Banking, Wema Plc, “the partnership with BOA will help facilitate business activities across the African continent, offer better and more competitive pricing to support customers and execute transactions faster” to customers looking to take their businesses beyond borders.”

Mr Ajai also added that the subsequent phase of the partnership will be to sign a sub-agreement with 16 other BOA affiliated locations across Anglophone and Francophone African countries, 6 of which are in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Togo and Senegal), 7 in East Africa and the Indian Ocean region (Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Significantly, this opportunity opens a window for African businesses to trade with their Chinese partners through the BOA/BMCE branch office in Shanghai, mainland China. BMCE, Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur of Morocco is the leading shareholder in BOA.

As stipulated in the partnership agreement, Mr Ajai adds that Wema Bank will not only back its clients with businesses that have cross border transactions in Africa, the Bank will play an advisory role for import and export trade services.

Wema Bank remains committed to the provision of innovative value propositions that offer better pricing, simplicity and reduced turnaround time to help its customers and potential customers take their businesses beyond borders.

Wema Bank’s ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank went all out to excite travelers flying out of Lagos with the ALAT airport mural. The ALAT mural sprang out of an understanding of how traveling evokes different emotions in different people – excitement, paranoia, fear, anxiety, to list a few, and the need for them to hold on to the memories that matter to them.

The ALAT brand has positioned itself and been known to be the brand that no only offers Nigerians convenient banking services but that also supports their lifestyle. In the word’s the bank’s Chief Communications Officer, Funmilayo Falola, for ALAT and Wema Bank, marketing is more than just the direct sale of a product or service, it is about creating an experience for the customer. She stated that infusing conversations and storytelling into advertising and marketing communications is one of the strategies the bank is applying to engage existing customers and gain new ones.

The ALAT airport mural is one of the many ways the bank expresses its deep-seated interest in the stories and overall lifestyle of its expanding customer base. The mural is dedicated to the many and widely varying Lagos experiences across both the Mainland and the Island.

The new boarding gate look at MM2 gives boarders a walk-through of iconic places in Lagos for travelers, who are often filled with a mirage of emotions at the point of leaving a place for another. At the ALAT mural, they can identify places they are familiar with in Lagos, maybe have a flash of unforgettable memories they’ve had in those places or remember what those places mean to them and have a pretty background to take one or two selfies before they board to fly out of Lagos.

The ALAT airport mural is also very strategic for people who are new to Lagos. Its showcases the many places in Lagos in a perfect blend of images and text. This is also a way for Wema Bank to help departing visitors visualize many places that they may not have had the opportunity to visit during their stay.

The colourful tones, the iconic places captured and the symbols of the new Lagos culture on the mural come together to give both traveling Lagosians and departing visitors a feel of Lagos as they make their way out of the city. This ties into the values of the ALAT brand of providing convenient banking services that are in sync with the lifestyle of their customers.

So the next time, you find yourself at MM2, look out for your favourite spot in Lagos and remember to take a selfie and share on your social media platforms.

With so many improvements and changes that have happened to Nigerian banking, is anyone still restricted to just savings and withdrawals? For those with firsthand knowledge about the industry, there are so many benefits that an account holder can begin to ask for more, and nothing satisfies a customer more than when a bank is specifically focused on being the solution, not the norm.

With a focus on delivering consistent and seamless services while rewarding customers, Wema Bank has built a respected, welcoming and modern brand over the years, with millions of customers who can access and experience different incentives due to services, contributions and savings.

By launching its online platform, ALAT, few years ago, the bank has woven customers’ constantly-changing tastes and technology into a single app that has transformed lifestyles and changed banking in the country.

With the new Outlet by ALAT, the app does not only serve as a payment service platform for customers and merchants, but also connects customers with digital services such as payments, event and movie ticket purchases, flight bookings, bet wallet funding, airtime vending, utility bills and more.
ALAT has become a one-stop advanced channel for recorded vendors to get installments for merchandise and ventures from both Wema Bank and non-Wema Bank account holders. So it’s not just about having a bank account, it’s about having one that consistently provides solutions.

While saving money has never been widely considered an investment, there can be benefits when it is properly managed and comes with higher interest – which makes the Wema Bank Smart Save Account important for many Nigerians. And while everyone might understand the need to save, the ease of accessing saved money makes it hard for people to have a healthy savings culture. With Smart Save, however, account holders can save money towards a goal – holiday expenses, tuition, birthday, etc., and also earn higher interest return on savings.

It can also be exciting to have total access to experience convenience banking. For example, transactions have become as simple as Cash-on-the-Go, where account holders can even make cardless withdrawals via ATMs. Yes, it is possible to forget one’s account number sometimes, or we forget to carry our debit cards with us. By dialing *945# on a mobile phone, banking becomes really easy.

The new age of banking in Nigeria continues, but with its services and offers, Wema Bank has led the industry in truly redefining the benefits of banking among customers. And this continues to improve, regardless of changes in the season or the improvement in customers’ interest.

Click here to join a new crop of smart savers.

LAGOS, NIGERIA – October 1, 2018 – Wema Bank PLC (Bloomberg: Wema NL) (“Wema” or “the Bank”)

• Adebise becomes MD/CEO from October 1, 2018
• Was in Acting Capacity for three months while Oloketuyi was on terminal leave
• Moruf Oseni appointed Deputy Managing Director.

Wema Bank Plc. hereby announces that Ademola Adebise has been made the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank following the retirement of Segun Oloketuyi in September. He was initially appointed the Acting Managing Director in July after Oloketuyi proceeded on terminal leave in July 2018. Adebise assumes the new role today, October 1, 2018.

Prior to this appointment, he was the Deputy Managing Director of Wema Bank, a role he held since January 2017.

Adebise has been part of the Bank’s executive management team since 2009 and has played a pivotal role in the execution of the strategic turnaround plan of the Bank. He has over 28 years’ experience in the banking industry (inclusive of 4 years in management consulting), and has worked in various capacities in Information Technology, Financial Control & Strategic Planning, Treasury, Corporate Banking, Risk Management and Performance Management.

Before joining Wema Bank Plc. Mr. Adebise was the Head, Finance and Performance Management Practice at Accenture (Lagos Office), where he led multiple successful projects for banks in Business Process Re-engineering, Information Technology and Risk Management.

A member of the Board of Directors for AIICO Insurance Plc, AIICO Pensions, Nigerian Interbank settlement system NIBSS, and Wema Bank Plc., Adebise is an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and a holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Lagos. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos Business School. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria ICAN and an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Wema Bank Plc. has also announced the appointment of Moruf Oseni as its Deputy Managing Director, effective October 1, 2018. Since joining the Wema Bank board in 2012, Oseni has contributed immensely to growing the Bank’s retail business. Until his appointment, he was the Executive Director in charge of Retail, managing assets including ALAT, Nigeria’s first digital bank.

Both appointments have been ratified by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“In Ademola and Moruf, the Bank has two financial veterans with a wealth of experience in senior executive positions across a wide range of countries,” said Babatunde Kasali, the Chairman of Wema Bank. “With their proven track record in the financial services sector, the board is confident that their appointments will lead to the continued transformation of the Bank as it positions itself as a market leader in Nigeria’s retail banking segment through technology and innovation.”

Moruf Oseni brings a wealth of banking and non-banking experience to his new role. Before joining Wema Bank, Moruf was the CEO of MG Ineso Limited, a principal investment and financial advisory firm. Prior to MG Ineso, he was a Vice President at Renaissance Capital, where he was responsible for capital markets origination and execution for Sub-Saharan African corporates and financial institutions. He was also an Associate at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup Global Markets in London, where he was involved in debt capital markets origination for European financial institutions.

Oseni holds an MBA from the prestigious Institut European d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France, a Masters in Finance (MiF) from London Business School, London and a BSc. in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He is also an alumnus of King’s College, Lagos.
Oseni is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and a member of Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM). He serves on the board of Continental Broadcasting Services Limited and is a member of the Lagos State Economic Advisory Committee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

WEMA Bank Plc

Funmilayo Falola (Head, Brand and Marketing Communications) +234 (1) 4622632

Funmilayo.falola@wemabank.com

Tunde Mabawonku (Chief Finance Officer)
Tunde.mabawonku@wemabank.com

Notes to editors:

About WEMA Bank Plc

Wema Bank, the pioneer of Nigeria’s first fully digital bank ALAT, offers a range of retail, SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, trade services and financial advisory to its customers. Wema Bank operates with a National Banking Licence, with a network of over 136 branches and service centres across Nigeria, backed by a robust ICT platform.

More information can be found at www.wemabank.com/investor-relations

Wema Bank, Nigeria’s leading innovative bank, hosts a bootcamp focused on engaging fintech startups to develop solutions that will optimise service delivery in banking and finance.

The Hackaholics Bootcamp is a ten-week intensive program designed to engage outstanding startups who participated at the Wema Bank Hackathon to develop their ideas and make them into market-ready products or services. They will also be trained on global practices for lean startups which includes user research and pivoting, customer journey mapping among other solution design thinking.

The Bootcamp which kicked off on Monday, September 16, 2019, at the Wema Bank Codeville, Ilupeju, Lagos will feature robust ideation and training sessions on product design and development facilitated by experts.

Trainers at the Bootcamp – Chuba Ezekwesili,Head of Research and Strategy and Co-founder, Akanka, Iyin Aboyeji, Co-Founder Flutterwave, Andela and Founder Street Capital, Joseph Agunbiade, Co-founder BudgIT, Founder Univelcity, Getmobile Technologies Limited, and SmartED and other experts – will take participating teams through extensive market research and predictive trend analysis to ensure they develop solutions that are relevant in an ever-changing market.

Participating teams will be equipped with different business model toolkits to develop a scalable market-ready solution, a go-to-market strategy, branding and communications. They will also be equipped with skills on how to pitch to and win over investors.

In his remarks, Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, Samuel Omotayo stated that: “the path to growth in today’s world is through collaboration and competition within and outside your organization.”

“Our goal is to equip and support startups to bring their ideas to life and ultimately, to have market-ready viable products by the end of the Bootcamp.

“We aim to create solutions that will drive process efficiency, optimize service delivery and improve customer experience. We are also looking to partner with other tech organizations in this regard.”

It should be recalled that in March this year, the bank pulled together startups and young tech professional for its first hackathon, Hackaholics, as part of its drive to leverage technology in solving financial, institutional and social challenges.

Through the bootcamp, Wema Bank will build on the success of Hackaholics and continue its support of fintechs in reinventing financial service delivery in Nigeria.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

WEMA Bank Plc

Funmilayo Falola (Brand & Marketing Communications) +234 1 277 8627

Funmilayo.falola@wemabank.com

Notes to editors:

About WEMA Bank Plc

Wema Bank, the pioneer of Nigeria’s first fully digital bank ALAT, offers a range of retail, SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, trade services and financial advisory to its customers. Wema Bank operates with a National Banking License, with a network of over 136 branches and service centres across Nigeria, backed by a robust ICT platform.

More information can be found at www.wemabank.com

This is to notify our esteemed shareholders and other stakeholders about the delay in the filing of Wema Bank’s 2017 Audited Financial Statement for the year ended 31^st December 2017.

The delay arose from the need to obtain necessary approval before going ahead to publish our 12-months Accounts and Financial Statements.

We expect to have our results released before the end of April 2018.