Heritage Bank stresses importance of retail market

Heritage Bank Limited says the retail end of the market is vital to its growth strategy, saying the bulk of its profit and business drive in the current financial year will come from the segment.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, said the lender would continue to boost its expansion plan to meet the needs of its customers.

He spoke in Lagos recently after receiving the Pilot Newspaper Leadership Award, naming Heritage Bank as the Fastest Growing Bank in Nigeria.

He said despite the economic meltdown being experienced in the country, the future looked promising for Nigeria including the banking sector.

Sekibo said, “Our hope for the future is very bright. I tell you, where there are challenges, there are always opportunities.

“What is happening today is not just in Nigeria alone. If you go to any other African country, you will see the same thing. If you go to Europe, you will see the same thing.

He added, “If you go to America, it is the same thing. It is like a cycle. The last time we had economic meltdown was in 2008, now is 2016. This whole thing started in 2015 but we saw it coming.”

The Heritage Bank CEO, who was represented by the Director, Service Bank, Mr. Niyi Adeseun, however, stressed the need for to expedite plans to diversify the economy.

“We have to quickly get into diversification. We were just using mouth to conduct diversification of the economy. We have allowed country like Ivory Coast to beat us with Cocoa production. It should not have happened. Nobody knows how long it would take to diversify the economy, but the fact is that if everyone gives support to government, and government brings the right incentives, it will be achieved.”

Commenting on the award, Sekibo said the lender was delighted by the recogonition.

“We feel very delighted and happy that some people are watching what we are doing. We thank you for recognising us as the fastest growing bank in 2016. We started with the first office before we had the opportunity to buy the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s bank, Enterprise Bank Limited. Before the buying Enterprise Bank, we had 15 to 16 branches. But it was after the business combination with Enterprise Bank that we started building more new branches.

We are currently in 34 states of the federation; not yet in two states within the North East. For the 34 states, we have some states where we have multiple locations, namely Oyo, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom states. In Lagos, we have over 50 branches. We have over 160 branches and also we are taking technology banking via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale platforms and other e-payment tools very seriously,” he said.

According to Sekibo, the lender currently has a balance sheet of over N600bn and will continue to grow.

He said the lender’s target was to become a systematically important bank and be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the next five years.