L-R: Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Deputy Managing Director, Access Bank plc; Pascal Dozie, Founder, Former Diamond Bank Plc; Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc; HRH Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, Emir of Kano; Uzoma Dozie, Managing Director, Former Diamond Bank Plc; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Co-Founder, Access Bank plc; Aliko Dangote, President, Dangote Group, and Ibrahim Dankwambo, Governor of Gombe State, at the FORMAL Launch/Unveiling of the New Access Bank new brand entity in Lagos on Sunday

New Access Bank Targets N30bn Pre-Tax, Operates All Branches

By InsideBusiness Last updated Sep 19, 2020

The new Access Bank, the outcome of the merger of Diamond and Access Bank commences operation today April 1, targeting N30 billion pre-tax synergy in an operation to be leveraged on its combined strength, focusing on array of services to achieve its goal of being the customers’ choice in the market.

The bank opened operation through the combined 600 branches simultaneously and across several platforms including its 3,100 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) spread across the country.

Unlike the previous experience during which it closed down some branches when Access bank acquired Intercontinental bank, the combined 600 branches will co-exist and allow the customers’ preference to determine their lifespans.

The two banks signified interest to merge last year and it got the final regulatory approval from the trio of the Central Bank if Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchnage Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange) together with the shareholders on March 19

Speaking at a media chat on Sunday evening ahead of the unveiling of the new brand, the bank’s confident of attaining the N30 billion owed to the combination of their strengths according to Rob Giles,, the Adviser, Retail banking.

‘We are confident about the synergies that we have pooled because the old Access bank is very experienced in its areas and we have worked together to understand the benefits. DiamondBank also, had built a very strong retail franchise with huge retail deposit at a very low cost of funds’.

Combining these together, Giles believed it will give advantage in the market place to achieve the goal of the new brand.

“When you add these cost of funds together in the combined entities, the bank benefit from a lot of funding cost. We have many shared systems – we use the same banking platforms, same channel platforms. So we have efficiency there straight away . And the products and services across the two institutions which the DiamondBank customers had lacked like access to strong corporate and treasury services, is now achievable..

Giles is optimistic that the customers especially that of the old Diamondbank will now enjoy the best private banking capabilities including UK Onshore private banking capabilities that they could not access before.

“We have millions of customers now having access to Diamond extra and we are very confident on our ability to deliver and also having the best solutions for our customers including facilities to empower them and improve their businesses.

The synergies from the merger are into two parts namely Cost and revenue synergies which will improve the funds of the new institution.

Parts of the new decision on the table for improve balance sheet is the sale of one of the head offices of the old banks to imkprove the balance sheet and push towards the goals ensuring more liquid to service the customers.

“When we have a balance sheet structure and efficiency to bring the low cost funds, this we believe will increase the cost of funding by 100 basis points on a N5 trillion balance sheet.

Victor Etuokwu, the Executive Director, Personal Banking said the merger was seamless because the two had same aspirations to and as such set their sights on creating values and not personal egos.

He allayed fears on collapsing the branches that could create loss of jobs stating that the two acknowledged instances where branches overlap and having two or three on one street.

“We are not going to close branches in a hurry. We have done this process before and we have learnt from our mistakes. If we are to close branches, the choice of the one to be closed has to be led by the customers’ preferences. We will leave all the branches the way they are today”.

Potentially, the new Access has between 52 and 55 branches that seem to be overlapping and will wait for next six months to one year, to take a decision which will be driven by the customers’ preferences.

“We will allow the customers to decide the one to close down and the one to collapse. Some may not even be closed down but be changed to E- centre or Experience Centres or be enlarged’.

An instance are the branches of the two banks that are situated beside each other on the campus of University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

In this case, the wall in between them could be removed to become one building that can be expanded.

“Our branch maximization exercise may not be similar to what we acquired Intercontinental. It will be more nuanced in line with customers’ preferences’ noted Etuokwu.

He admitted the difficulty to achieve seamless operation from day one but assured that the bank will deal with such situation.

“We want to make sure people from Monday go to our branches across the country and get a good service. It is not easy but that’s what we want to do. If there are issues, they will be resolved and this will allow us to get better and better. We have put in place a process by which any customer can go to any of the new enlarged branch network and be served as if he was in that bank before the merger. We have a large command center that support such process and a large operating centre that supports all the branches”.

Commenting on the merger, Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive of Access Bank, said thye moment was transformational for Access Bank which had earlier dreamt of changing the face of the sector

“I remember almost two decades ago when, together with my partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, we set out a dream for Access Bank – to change the face of banking in Nigeria and lift the continent of Africa through sustainable banking. We wanted to show individuals and businesses across the country that ethical business was good business.

Some years earlier, Pascal Dozie, one of Nigeria’s leading figures in banking, launched Diamond Bank to harness technology to help people respond to changing lifestyles and support societal shifts.

This merger has enabled us to realize our dream of becoming a leading full-service bank in Nigeria and a Pan-African financial services champion. Combining Diamond Bank’s leadership in digital and mobile-led retail banking with Access Bank’s expertise in trade finance, cash management, treasury and corporate finance drives significant opportunities through the value chain.

As we promised on 19 December 2018, we have taken decisive steps to maintain the capital strength of the combined entity and ensure its financial stability. The Enlarged Access Bank has an extremely strong capital adequacy ratio of more than 20% following completion of the merger.

For both Diamond Bank and Access Bank, today marks the beginning of a shared vision to create a large diversified retail bank that is modern, intelligent and digitally led; of global scale and scope, with strong payment capabilities. We want to be able to support our 29 million customers as they achieve their dreams and ambitions, and in doing so play our part in supporting the national economy and our continent as Africa’s gateway to the world.”