SAN FRANCISCO, December 13, (THEWILL) – Nnamdi Okonkwo, the outgoing Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank has revealed that the banking industry has been positively impacted by the fiscal and monetary actions taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to accommodate the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people and business landscape.
Okonkwo made this known as he spoke with newsmen as he looks toward his retirement on December 31.
According to him, the steps by government eased pressure on customers to effectively service loans held and thus reduced the risk of loan defaults across the industry. These include a forbearance programme, the easing of the monetary policy stance to promote a low interest regime, and the launch of the N2.3tn stimulus package under the Economic Sustainability Plan.
“In the case of Fidelity Bank, our proven capacity to monitor the business environment and identify risks as well as growth opportunities proved invaluable. In this regard, the bank had conducted various scenario assessments prior to Nigeria recording its index case and identified business sectors expected to be impacted by the pandemic.
“As a result, we were primed to quickly adapt our strategies for business continuity and market focus in time with government enforced lockdowns.
“It has not been a walk in the park but our focused delivery of an evolved business strategy is responsible for our positive performance this year,” he said.
On the liquidity position of Fidelity Bank, he said: “Our liquidity position remains strong, above the required regulatory threshold, and we expect to maintain this.
“While I cannot presume to know the level of reliance some banks on CBN funding, I can attest that that is not the case for Fidelity Bank. Our nine-month results show an increase in our liquidity ratio to 35 per cent from 32 per cent in our audited H1-2020 results.
“The bank has undergone a significant evolution of business culture over the past few years all towards improving operational efficiency and expanding market share.
“Our principal ethos of customer first guided operational realignments and a comprehensive procedure review towards improving efficiency.
“The bank’s technology drive and digital transformation initiative are however the core platforms so far leveraged to achieve of our short to medium term business goals.
“Automation and robotics have replaced manual and repetitive processes to cut down processing times and improve efficiency. This has allowed us to expand our customer reach without sacrificing customer service.
“The bank has also introduced several products and enhanced service features well suited to the needs of our ever-growing customer base.
“Our digital offerings lead the industry in terms of innovative features with close to 90 per cent of our transactions now handled outside our branch network.
“The result of the success of our adopted digital culture has been evident in the performance trend witnessed over the past few years.”
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