The Ecobank and Nedbank Groups have jointly been awarded Most Innovative Bank of the Year at the 2010 African Banker Awards ceremony held in Washington DC.
The Ecobank Nedbank Alliance is an initiative to provide clients with the convenience, accessibility and many benefits of a seamless 'one bank' experience across the 35 African countries making up the alliance, the largest geographical footprint on the continent.
“The alliance is an integral part of the bank's vision to build Africa's most admired bank” said Graham Dempster, Chief Operating Officer of Nedbank Group.
The alliance office based in Johannesburg comprises a dedicated banking solutions unit that has the specialist expertise to assist alliance clients through tailored client-needs driven solutions. The global coverage model means that clients enjoy a single point of contact for all their transactional and lending requirements.
Albert Essien, Executive Director of Ecobank Corporate Bank commented: “the Pan-African strategy of Ecobank has been enhanced by the alliance activities that have led to this award”.
This award recognizes the banking executives of both banks having, through innovation, created real value for clients doing business across Africa” added Smit Crouse, Head of the alliance.
Innovations that have led to this award include:
1 LocalKnowledgeAfrica, through its five knowledge centres across Africa, providing a unique advisory service to corporate clients for expanding and growing their business across the African continent.
2 Enabling Ecobank regional cardholders to withdraw funds from their Ecobank accounts via 1 860 Nedbank ATMs across South Africa. This groundbreaking initiative increases ATM accessibility for a million Ecobank regional cardholders and provides a safer and cheaper alternative to traditional currency conversion.
3 Specific integration of banking and technology platforms providing clients with the ability to have a single view of bank balances and seamless management of accounts held with both banks.
4 Development of an account opening system, simplifying and streamlining the process of opening accounts for clients across the combined footprint of 35 countries.
5 Implementing an alliance website with client communication functions aimed at supporting clients.
About Ecobank:
Incorporated in Lome, Togo, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) is the parent company of the leading independent regional banking group in Africa. It currently has a presence in 30 African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia.
The group also has an affiliate EBI S.A. in Paris and a representative office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ETI is listed in the stock exchanges in Lagos, Accra and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) – the BRVM.
The Group is owned by more than 180,000 local and international institutional and individual shareholders. It has over 11,000 employees from 35 nationalities in over 750 branches. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.
For more information please send an email to contact@ecobank.com
About Nedbank
Nedbank Group Limited (‘Nedbank Group’) is a bank holding company, with Nedbank Limited and Imperial Bank Limited as its principal banking subsidiaries. The company’s ordinary shares have been listed on JSE Limited since 1969.
Nedbank Group is South Africa’s fourth largest banking group – measured by assets – with a strong deposit franchise, the second largest retail deposit base, a client-centric wholesale and retail franchise, and a substantial and growing wealth management offering. The group offers a wide range of wholesale and retail banking services Nedbank Group is also Africa’s fourth largest banking group by assets.
Nedbank Group’s vision is to become Africa’s most highly rated and respected bank by our staff, clients, shareholders, regulators and communities. A significant aspect of this vision is the commitment to sustainability demonstrated by the banking group over the past two decades. As part of its commitment to being a ‘bank for all’ Nedbank Group’s primary business focus is on meeting the retail and wholesale banking needs of clients across southern Africa.
For more information:
Banking in Africa: Paul Burkett: +27 11 294 4936 / Rotimi Nihinlola: +27 11 783 6197
www.EcobankNedbankAlliance.com
LocalKnowledgeAfrica: Bronwyn Price: +27 11 295 8476 / Paul-Harry Aithnard: +233 21 25 17 23
