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.

Wema Bank Plc., the pioneer of Nigeria’s first fully digital bank ALAT has launched a new blog called enovate, offering stories about innovation, with staff and customers as main contributors.

The aim of the blog is to encourage discussions on innovation and the use of technology to make the lives of the Bank’s customers better and improve the society.

“We’re branding Wema Bank as an integral part of the lives of our customers and stakeholders,” said Abiodun Aderibigbe, head of the editorial team at the Bank’s Brand and Marketing Communications department. “There are local innovations that are constantly solving local problems and making lives better. We want to be sure that our customers are aware of such. We also want to encourage discussions about innovation, beyond just tech-led innovation.

“There is a misconception that if it is not tech-led, it is not innovation. True innovation is about doing something new, improving existing processes, products and services. Innovation can be a new technology, but it can also be just a new idea,” Aderibigbe added.

The success of Wema’s digital bank ALAT has positioned the financial institution as one of the most innovative in the country. Using local talents, the Bank built an award-winning digital bank, which continues to be an example of what is possible when innovation is allowed to thrive. The Bank expressed hope that new blog will achieve its aim and contribute to a better society where people are using innovation to solve everyday problems.

Also commenting, Head of Brand and Marketing Communications at Wema Bank Funmilayo Falola noted that conversations about innovation are already ongoing. “We want to be part of that conversation.”

“We also to start conversations about innovation as it affects our stakeholders and the public. We started the conversation about branchless banking and launched ALAT. With ALAT, we have been able to redefine simplicity and reliability in banking. We intend to do more in our core. However, every conversation on innovation that may affect our customers in anyway, we intend to be part of it. Remember, we asked to be part of their lifestyle,” Falola said.

Content for enovate will be generated internally. However, customers with story ideas and firsthand information about innovative ideas being put to use in their locality will also be encouraged to contribute. New content will be published at least once a week and pushed out on Wema Bank’s social media platforms.

The views expressed on enovate are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Wema Bank. Click here to visit the blog.

• CEO/Managing Director Segun Oloketuyi to proceed on terminal leave from July 01, 2018 and to retire with effect from September 30 2018.
• Current Deputy Managing Director, Ademola Adebise to assume CEO/Managing Director role in acting capacity with effect from 1 July 2018 subject to regulatory approvals.

Wema Bank Plc. has announced that the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Segun Oloketuyi, will be proceeding on terminal leave from 1 July 2018 and subsequently retire with effect from September 30 2018 following almost a decade at the helm of the Bank.

Oloketuyi was named Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank Plc in June 2009, with the task of returning the Bank to profitability following the 2008 banking crisis which saw the collapse of many banks. At the time, Wema Bank had negative capital in excess of N66 billion and was declared a bank in grave financial situation by the regulatory authority.

However, under his leadership, the fortunes of the Bank were completely turned around, leading to the recapitalization of the Bank and its return to profitability. The Bank is now positioned to deliver dividends to shareholders.

As part of a turnaround plan which Mr Oloketuyi led, the Bank also regained its national banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has allowed it to expand to the Northern and Eastern parts of the country, significantly increasing its market share and customer base in the process.

The outgoing Wema Bank MD prioritized the use of technology to deliver improved service to customers, culminating in the launch of ALAT, which offers branchless banking services.

“On behalf of the Board and Management of the Bank, I want to thank Mr Oloketuyi for his service and wish him the best in his future endeavours,” said Oluwole Ajimisinmi, Wema Bank’s Company Secretary and Legal Adviser.

Segun Oloketuyi will be succeeded by Ademola Adebise, who is currently the Deputy Managing Director of the Bank. The appointment of Mr Adebise as Wema Bank’s new Managing Director/CEO is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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, Adebise was Head, Finance & Performance Management Practice at Accenture (Lagos Office) where he led various projects for banks in Business Process Re-engineering, Information Technology and Risk Management.

He 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’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos Business School.

Adebise is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria). He is an honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB) and a member of the Institute of Directors.

The Board of the Bank expressed confidence that Adebise’s appointment will lead to the continued transformation and growth of the Bank as it positions itself as a market leader in Nigeria’s retail banking segment through technology and innovation.

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

By 2025, Millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce. As their population grows, so is their influence. Award-winning author Jeremy K. Balkin calls this the “Millennialization of Everything.”

Millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000 — are unlike previous generations in so many ways. They are highly opinionated, educated and are digitally native. They have a reputation for being tech-savvy, collaborative, optimistic, achievement-oriented and socially conscious. Brands that are keen on reaching them must go to places where they can meet them. In view of this, many brands have become very active on social media, where millennials spend at least 6 hours per week. In 2017, 71 percent of internet users were social network users and these figures are expected to grow. These statistics show where every brand that wants to remain relevant in future needs to be.

Already, social media has started transforming banking relationships in very significant ways. Customers have relied on popular social media platforms to easily reach out to banks in a bid to seek quicker resolution to their complaints. Banks have also used these platforms to improve customer service by prompt response to queries and provision of useful information to customers. This trend is expected to continue, as we are beginning to see Fintechs use social media data to help people get access to credit. There is even a school of thought with the belief that social media platforms may be the banks of the future. No matter what you think of the possibilities social media bring, one thing is certain, any brand that wants to remain relevant in the future must take social media seriously.

Last year, Femi Oguntamu of Penzaarville, a Lagos-based digital marketing startup debuted Handle It Africa, a social media conference themed Social Media: Language of Expression. The conference was made possible by the support of organisations like Wema Bank, whose interest in constantly looking for innovative ways to engage customers has led to its growing interest in social media. The innovative Bank which launched ALAT, Africa’s first fully digital bank in 2017, is supporting Handle It Africa again this year in keeping with its commitment to supporting small businesses that continuously implement innovative ideas for growth. This year’s theme Social Media: Expanding Influence, Broadening Thoughts, will see discussions about the influence of social media taken further.

Businesses are increasingly seeing the need to be more active on social media, with key events like product launches now taken online to actively target the important market segment that spend more than 6 hours online every week. Even banks now see social media as a very useful tool in customer service, community building, product research and marketing.

The growing influence of social media in brand enhancement and marketability of products have encouraged brands to increasingly engage the services of viral-ready comedians who offer attractive instant visibility extending over 150,000 viewers, given their huge following online. ALAT, for example, engaged the services of Maraji, a social media sensation, to promote its Virtual Dollar Card. A single post by the female comedian was viewed by over 200,000 people on Instagram alone. Such is the power of social media today!

Discussions that happen in conferences like Handle It Africa, reinforce the importance of social media and end with fresh ideas that can help individuals and businesses further exploit the opportunities presented by the different available social media platforms.

Wema Bank has over the last one year increased its use of social media to engage its customers, as it continues to roll out digital banking solutions tailored to people’s needs.

ALAT, Wema’s digital bank has over the last one year, won 8 awards, both locally and internationally.

Funmilayo Falola, who heads Brand and Marketing Communications at Wema Bank reiterates the importance of social media to brands. “If 75% of the global workforce in the next seven years are millennials and millennials spend more than 6 hours on social media every week, any brand that is serious about the future needs to be on social media,” she says.

“That said, brands need to be strategic about the platforms they use. You do not need to be on all social media platforms as a brand. Look for the platforms unique to your target audience and come up with an effective strategy that will ensure you achieve your set objectives,” Falola adds.