Access, Ecobank Win Euromoney Awards

Access Bank Plc said it has been conferred with the ‘Africa’s Best Bank Transformation’ award in the Euromoney 2016 Awards for Excellence. The award, according to the bank, was in recognition of its progress in the enhancement of its operations through its ‘Winning with Service’ initiative, as well as commitment to raising the standards of customer experience through its digital banking strategy.

In a related development, Pan-African banking group, Ecobank also disclosed that it won this year’s Euromoney Excellence Awards for ‘Best Bank for CSR in Africa’ and ‘Best Bank for Transaction Services in Africa.’ Ecobank revealed that it also won two country awards: ‘Best Bank Ghana’ and ‘Best Bank Malawi.’

Continuing, Access Bank, in a statement at the weekend explained that the Africa’s ‘Best Bank Transformation’ award was one of the new categories launched this year to reflect the changing nature of the global banking industry, saying that the bank was the foremost winner of this award.

The award was presented to the bank at the 25th anniversary of the Euromoney Awards dinner which took place recently in London and attended by over 500 CEOs and senior executives of winning institutions as well as members of the Euromoney team.

The Euromoney Awards for Excellence, launched in 1992 and now in its 25th year, were the first of their kind in the global financial publishing industry. Recall that Access Bank was named the Best Flow House in Africa at the 2015 awards ceremony which held at the Natural History Museum in London.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony,  the bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe said: “We are delighted to be presented with this highly coveted award. It is a testimonial to the hard work we have done in line with our five-year strategy to become the world’s most respected African bank.

“It also confirms the transformation of the bank into a large diversified enterprise with enhanced retail structure as well as fast digital banking platform,” he added.

He pledged that the bank will sustain this growth momentum while noting that the award is an honour not only for Access Bank, but for Nigeria and the seven million Access Bank customers who have been instrumental to the bank’s success.

 Also, speaking at the event, Ecobank Foundation CEO, Julie Essiam said: “At Ecobank we are passionate about transforming the communities that we serve across Africa. Through strong partnerships like our work with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, we are making long-term positive change. Our award for corporate social responsibility is gratifying and it demonstrates the powerful impact that the private sector makes on development in Africa.”