Wema Bank plc, is Nigeria’s longest surviving indigenous bank, with an undisputable growth. It has meritoriously served Nigerians without any blemish.
Behind this growth is the bank’s digital banking platform, ALAT, which gained traction and attracted more customers in the year under review.
Wema Bank has also enjoyed a steady style of leadership under the Chairman Board of Directors, Babatunde Kasali and the MD/CEO, Oseni Moruf, who are supported by Joshuas, who lift up the hands of Moses, during trying times.
According to the bank, ALAT recorded a 131 percent increase in the number of customers onboarded in 2022.
In addition, Wema Bank said its other card products also recorded a 98 percent increase in the number of new customers within the year.
ALAT continues to be a key growth driver and success story for the Bank, recording a year-on-year increase of over 853,092 in the number of actively transacting customers on the platform. With the rollout of new and innovative features on ALAT, and our ALAT For Business platform, we are sure of increased growth and heightened performance on both platforms in the coming year.
The bank’s financial reports over the years, have shown a growth performance across all financial indices in the many years of its operations.
Under the leadership of Oseni Moruf, the managing director/chief executive officer of the bank, Wema Bank’s performance has actually increased its customer base and satisfaction. This has been so because of its cutting edge investment in technology.
In a recent interview, Moruf said, “Our bank, over the last decade and especially since the creation of our digital banking platform ALAT, has started a transformation journey building on a strong technology and data analytics capability foundation to offer seamless and exceptional customer service across multiple channels to customers spread across Nigeria.”
We are now starting to see the impact of that in our financial performance over the last few quarters. We believe that this growth trajectory will be sustained and improved over the short- and medium-term horizons.”
Under Moruf Oseni, Wema Bank results have shown the result of the careful execution of its medium-term strategy as it has deliberately focused on deepening on offerings to the corporate, commercial and retail segments of the market, using its digital channels while ensuring best-in-class customer experience platforms to deliver improvements across all customer touch points. The bank’s bottom line has improved tremendously in 2023.
Wema Bank’s investment in technology is predicated on the bank’s focus on customer satisfaction as its major objective. This led to the customer-centric operational changes introduced by the bank in recent years. In line with the bank’s corporate value, Wema Bank thinks of great and exciting ideas to solve problems that its customers care about.
It designs solutions that inspire joy and use cutting-edge technology, new developments and research-driven ideas to provide accessible solutions. This value led the bank to the adoption of digital technology which saw the launch of a revolutionary Wema Bank product, ALAT by Wema, Nigeria’s first fully digital bank, in 2017.
Talk of the Bank’s interest income, which grew by 43 percent to N108.04 billion. This was driven by the most contribution from loans and advances to banks and customers.
The Tier-2 Bank has always worked to put its customers first and meet their needs every step of the way, whether through their local bank branch or through ALAT, the digital banking platform. Wema has continued to work towards the goal of becoming Nigeria’s dominant digital banking platform. In addition, Wema Bank said its other card products also recorded a 98 percent increase in the number of new customers within the year.
Without mincing words, this objective requires an unwavering focus on not just its digital business, that has served as a key lever for customer acquisition, retention, and engagement, but also in its physical service within the four walls of its branches.
According to reports, the bank’s total interest income comprises loans and advances to banks and customers which contributed 79.3 percent, investments securities(19.5%) and cash and cash equivalents(1.3%).
The loans and advances to banks and customers recorded 33 percent growth to N85.1 billion in 2022 from N63.8 billion in 2021.
Investment securities grew 158 percent to N20.9 billion in 2022 from N8.1 billion in 2021 while cash and cash equivalents dipped 52 percent to N1.4 billion from N2.9 billion.
The bank’s total interest expense jumped 52 percent to N53.8 billion on the back of N45.6 billion deposits from customers, other borrowed funds (N4.7 billion) and deposits from banks(N2.8 billion).
The bank recorded gross earnings rose to N131.08 billion in 2022, indicating an increase of 42.3 percent from N92.14 percent in 2021.
Net trading income jumped 150 percent to N4 billion on the back of treasury bills (N3.5 billion), fixed income securities(N293.4 million) and foreign exchange trading (N242.1 million).
However, other income dropped 12 percent to N2.9 billion in 2022 from N3.3 billion in 2021.
Wema Bank recorded a boom in its electronic banking channels in 2022 as it generated N6.1 billion from digital platforms. The 2022 e-banking revenue represents a 79 percent increase when compared with the N3.4 billion the bank generated from electronic channels in 2021.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
