Stanbic IBTC announced on Monday that it has given its financial technology division a new name after it spent the previous 16 months developing the division before its introduction in May.
ZEST Payments Limited will replace Stanbic IBTC Financial Services Limited as the company’s official name, and the necessary regulatory authorizations to support the transition are already in place.
In a note to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the company said the following:
“Notwithstanding the name change, ZEST remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, and no change of ownership, shareholding structure or business objects of the company has occurred as a result of this.”
“ZEST will also continue to operate within the same regulatory framework set forth by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
The Nigerian subsidiary of Africa’s largest financial institution, Standard Bank Group, has begun operations as a payment solution service provider. This development continues the trend of Nigerian financial institutions that possess a holding company licence venturing out into other industries, such as fintech, in order to increase their revenue.
Peers such as Access Holdings, Sterling Financial Holdings, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company have all opened payments subsidiaries in the hopes of gaining a share of Africa’s expected $65 billion in fintech revenue by the year 2030.
During a meeting with the company’s shareholders in November of 2023, Access Holdings CEO Herbert Wigwe revealed the impetus behind the establishment of the company’s fintech arm, Hydrogen. He made this revelation.
“The idea is that wherever you are in the world, if you are making payment to anyone on the continent, one out of every three transactions that come into this continent will be settled on Access Bank’s platform.”
Stanbic IBTC Holdings is owned by the Standard Bank Group, which has a 67.5 percent stake in the company through Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited, which acts as its nominee.
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About Stanbic Bank Group
The Standard Bank Group (SBG) is a financial institution that operates as a commercial bank and has its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since its founding in 1862, this financial institution has provided its customers with a wide variety of banking services, including transactional banking, savings, borrowing, lending, investment, insurance, risk management, wealth management, and consulting services.
The corporate and investment banking section of Standard Bank Group provides corporate and investment banking services to international counterparties, governments, parastatals, bigger corporates, and financial institutions. Some of the most important subsidiaries of the group include Standard Bank of South Africa, Standard International Holdings, Stanbic IBTC, and Liberty Holdings.
Stanbic’s commitment to the expansion of local businesses
Stanbic Bank has stated that it is committed to focusing on the expansion of local businesses and is in a good position to provide local businesses in the country with banking services that are tailored to meet their individual needs to lead to customer satisfaction.
During his country visit to Zambia, the Chief Executive Officer for Business and Commercial Banking at Standard Bank, Mr. Bill Blackie, stated that Standard Bank, the parent company of Stanbic, recognises the significance of home-grown businesses to the expansion of a nation’s economy and that the Bank is in a good position to facilitate expansion across Africa.
He expressed optimism and highlighted the fact that Stanbic Bank is ideally positioned to be the “dominant business bank” in the country in order to support the growth imperatives of local businesses. Stanbic Bank is rooted in Africa and has a footprint in over 19 African countries, therefore he believes that this puts Stanbic Bank in a good position.