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- Commercial banks in Nigeria have placed their employees under targets to help raise funds to meet the new capital requirements by CBN
- The banks enlisted the support of their members of staff in the race to boost their capital ahead of the deadline
- The banks also employ other strategies, such as social media and adding new features to the mobile apps to let users purchase their stocks
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.
Ahead of the new capital base requirements by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), members of staff of commercial banks have been enlisted to raise various capital bases in line with the new requirements
The bank workers were asked to help raise funds by encouraging customers to open new accounts, reactivate old ones, and make more extensive deposits.
Source: UGC
CBN issues steps to achieve the new capital requirement
The method is used to raise funds internally and cuts across all strata of staff, including IT and personnel.
According to reports, the banks adopted the measure because they have been unable to use the capital markets to raise enough funds. They adopted the new approach while searching for private placements and initial public offerings.
Afrivest, an investment management firm, said there are about 11 banks listed as private limited companies.
Some bank staff disclosed that the procedure was part of a transparency plan submitted by the CBN, showing how recapitalization goals would be met.
Punch reports that the targets have made bank staffers adopt alternative means to reach potential customers via social media as competition for capital hots up.
Banks add new features to apps to woo customers
The banks also reportedly send customer satisfaction surveys, putting the staff under pressure.
Findings by Legit.ng show that banks have also added new features to their mobile apps to prompt customers to acquire their stocks.
Checks show that one of the banks, Zenith Bank, incorporated the new feature in early August 2024, with steps showing how customers can acquire banking shares.
Other banks, such as First Bank, GTB, Access, and others, have added the feature to attract customers to buy shares and enable them to raise the required capital.
Similarly, some banks have enlisted the services of social media influencers to promote their offers using platforms like X and TikTok.
CBN sets deadline to raise new capital
A previous report by Legit.ng disclosed that the CBN directed commercial banks to recapitalize, setting N500 billion as new requirements for national banks and N200 billion for banks with regional licenses.
Also, the apex bank set N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively, for non-interest banks.
A CBN circular said the new directive recognizes only share capital and share premium items on the Shareholder Fund Option of the balance sheet.
The CBN said the banks must meet the minimum capital requirement in 24 months, beginning on April 1, 2024, and ending on March 31, 2026.
5 Nigerian banks earn N67 billion in FX
Legit.ng earlier reported that Five Nigerian banks recorded about N67.89 billion in foreign exchange gains in the first half of 2024.
The banks’ interim financial results filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited showed that forex gains recorded by the financial institutions in the first half of the year were 67.89% lower than the N211.42 billion in the same period in 2023.
The financial institutions include the FCMB Group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Wema Bank, Sterling Financial Holding Company and Jaiz Bank.
Source: Legit.ng
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