OWERRI – The Alvana Microfinance Bank Limited has indicated plans to change its current BSuper Castel Software to more robust software, BankOne™ to strongly avert perpetrators of fraud.
Dr. Dan C. Anyanwu, Chairman of the bank, said that the bank would continue to put in place adequate measures to respond to the business challenges and to stimulate both the turnover and profit developments.
Anyanwu disclosed this at the 15th and 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank for the years ended 2016 and 2017 respectively held at the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (AIFCE) Owerri which also featured the send forth of the former chairman of the bank, Prof. (Mrs.) Blessing Ijioma.
According to him, “Alvana MFB Limited is gradually going digital and increasingly far away from “brick and mortar” model of banking.
“For an institution such as ours to survive in today’s competitive world, they must not only embrace the digital age, but also strive to manage their inherent risks of evolving threats.”
Notwithstanding, the stunned and adverse economic downturn in the country, Anyanwu said that Alvana MFB Limited had been making efforts to grow its earnings in this tough and unpredictable macro environment, adding that the bank had deployed a bouquet of electronic channels such as two ATMs and also got integrated to remit platform in its continuous efforts to ensure that its shareholders and customers perform their transactions conveniently, quickly, safely and satisfactorily.
Anyanwu, who is also the provost of the AIFCE Owerri, said that the College patronised the bank in 2017 more than it did in 2016.
He, however, regretted that the full implementation of the treasury single account (TSA) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by which fee payments are now paid into Federal Government account while the high cost of diesel and other running cost by the bank adversely affected the bank in 2016.
According to him, details of the posted financial results of the bank showed strong growth in key revenue lines and improved efficiency and regulatory ratios despite the challenging business environment.
“Secondly, Alvana MFB faced strong head winds, characterised by contracting interest spread, implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reduced fee collection from students due to perceived reduction in students’ intake and massive investment in technology- E-Banking solution in 2016.
“Similarly, the Bank’s operating expenses were spiking, deposit dwindled, and loan provision and taxation were relatively high. These phenomena can be attributed to huge investment in E-Banking solutions, huge energy cost, and liquidity tightening policies by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through creation and maintenance of Treasury Single Account (TSA), among other factors.”
