The shareholders gave their approval at the 34th Annual
General Meeting (AGM) of the bank held in Lagos, yesterday. The dividend, which
amounted to 35 kobo per share will be paid to all shareholders whose names
appear in the register of members at the close of business on April 22, 2022.
Speaking, the chairman of Fidelity Bank, Mustafa Chike-Obi
reassured shareholders, saying that the board and management of the bank would
maintain the high corporate governance standard synonymous with Fidelity Bank
and also ensure the bank continued in its growth trajectory in the years ahead.
“We will continue to strengthen our enterprise risk
management capabilities to ensure the sustainability of our business, while
modeling our governance practices to align with international best practice,”
said Chike-Obi.
He noted that the last fiscal year was a period of
consolidation and growth in our Bank, saying that “Going forward, our business
will be driven by technology and innovation. We will optimize current processes
through digitization and automation to allow for improved service quality.
“We will deploy predictive tools to enhance customer
experience. In recent times, there has been significant increase in migration
of skilled manpower from Nigeria to more developed economies. Consequently, we
will institutionalise remote working protocols to enable us attract and retain
the best talents.
“In a technology-driven environment, Risk Management is
critical. We will continue to strengthen our Enterprise Risk Management
capabilities to ensure the sustainability of our business. We will also
continue to pay close attention to corporate governance and capital
preservation.”
The CEO of Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, noted
that the digital banking products gained traction during the year driven by new
initiatives in the retail lending segment and increased cross-selling of our
digital banking products.
“We now have 56 per cent of our customers enrolled on the
mobile/internet banking products from 52.8 per cent in 2020, while 90.0 percent
of all customer-induced transactions are now done on digital platforms, with
27.5 per cent of fee-based income coming from electronic banking products. In
addition, the total value of our Nigerian Inter-bank Payment (NIP) transactions
grew by 71.7 per cent, with our market share improving to 5.0 per cent.
“Today, Fidelity Bank is one of the best managed commercial
banks in the country and is currently ranked the 6th largest bank in the
Nigerian banking industry with a market share of above 5.0 percent across key
indices. Our aspiration is to grow your bank’s market share to at least 7.5 per
cent across key indices as it evolves into a global financial services brand by
driving expansion in new business segments within and beyond the shores of Nigeria,”
she said.