First National Bank, a division of FirstRand group, (which is the largest financial institution in Africa by market capitalisation) has been adjudged The Most Innovative African Bank at the 2017 African FinTech Awards for the second year in a row.

The African FinTech Awards recognizes innovative and disruptive financial technology companies that have excelled in their sphere of business.  Some of the bank’s achievements include becoming the first bank in Africa to offer integrated telco service, FNB Connect in 2015, which offers a First National Bank branded SIM. 

Last year, the bank became the first bank in Africa to launch its own branded smartphones has sold more than 75000 FNB-branded ConeXis smartphones in Africa. 

Jacques Celliers, First National Bank group chief executive was humbled by the award. “This accolade demonstrates our consistency in creating solutions that prioritize exponential helpfulness to address the needs of our individual and business customers. For us, innovation is a journey that is rooted in customer-centricity,” Celliers said.

Commenting on the award, the Chief Operations Officer at First National Bank, Vish Chetty said, “this award comes to confirm our resolve to replicate many of our innovative solutions in other subsidiaries including Ghana. As Africa’s most innovative bank, we will bring our experiences in other markets to bear here in Ghana and make sure Ghanaians experience what our brand stands for – innovation.”

First National Bank Ghana Limited, one of the youngest banks in the country, took the lead to introduce a new way of making payment - Geo Payment, the first of its kind in Ghana. This is an electronic payment that enables customers of the bank to send and receive money when in proximity to other customers of the bank. 

According to Mr. Chetty, First National Bank is riding heavily on technology and innovation to deliver modern banking to the Ghanaian public.