82% of Fidelity Bank’s total transactions done via digital platforms says CEO

Nnamdi Okonkwo, chief executive officer of Fidelity Bank PLC., has disclosed that, of all transactions carried out by customers of the bank in the first half of the year, about 82 percent were done through the bank’s various digital platforms.

Okonkwo disclosed this, following the release of the bank’s half year financial result for the period ended June 30, 2019.

According to Okonkwo, digital banking, has continued to gain traction driven by new initiatives in retail lending segment and increased cross-selling of it’s digital banking products.

“We now have 45 percent of our customers enrolled in the bank’s mobile/internet banking products, 82 percent of total transactions now done on digital platforms and 29 percent of fee-based income now coming from digital banking”, he said.

Financial performance for the bank in the first half of 2019 showed a 15.7 percent rise in Profit Before Tax (PBT) from N13 billion last year to N15.1 billion in June 2019.

Profit After Tax (PAT) rose by 15.6 percent to close at N13.6 billion from N11.8 billion recorded in 2018, whilst gross earnings increased by 12.3 percent from N92.3 billion to N103.7 billion.

The bank’s balance sheet showed total assets rose by 12.8 percent to N1.940.2bn from N1,719.9bn in the previous period.

Total Deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by 12 percent to close at N1. 1 trillion from N979.4 billion in 2018 Financial Year (FY). It was driven by double-digit growth in both local and foreign currency deposits.

It also showed that savings deposits now accounts for about 22.6 percent of total deposits – a clear sign of the bank’s increasing market share in the retail segment.

“We are on course to achieving the 6th consecutive year of double-digit savings growth”, he stated.

According to Okonkwo, the bank remained focused on the execution of its medium-term strategic goals and targets for the 2019FY.

He promised that the bank would continue to sustain the momentum and deliver another strong set of results for the 9M 2019.

He said, “Gross Earnings increased by 12.3 percent to N103.7bn driven by a 52.4 percent growth in our fee-based income and a 7.2 percent growth in Interest Income.

Okonkwo also pointed out that retail loans were steadily on the rise after the launch of the bank’s new digital lending product dubbed Fidelity Fastloan, further adding that the bank has deepened lending partnerships with select Financial Technology (FinTechs) companies.

Key financial ratios indicated improved stance of the lender as Non-performing Loans (NPLs) Ratio improved to 5.4 percent from 5.7 percent in the 2018FY due to the growth in the loan book. With regulatory ratios such as the Capital Adequacy Ratio at 17.0 percent, Liquidity Ratio at 34.8 percent, well above required threshold, Okonkwo said he is optimistic that the bank will sustain this sterling performance in the second half of the year.