On 7th, June 2013, four state governors, top bankers, and other dignitaries gathered together at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, for the maiden edition of BusinessDay’s Annual Banking Award.
The event was organized primarily to recognize banks and bankers who had lubricated the wheels of commerce in Nigeria through their financial intermediation work in 2012.
Tomorrow, this year’s edition of the same event, BusinessDay’s Annual Banking Award, will be held at the Civic Center, Victoria Island, but from the look of things, the event is set to be bigger than what occurred in 2013.
Unlike last year, where there were just 8 award categories, there are now a few more categories specifically to take cognizance of other financial institutions that also contribute to the growth of the economy.
It was deemed fit to acknowledge the contributions of microfinance banks, mortgage banks and other non-commercial banks that have been at the core of helping to expand Nigeria’s export portfolio. Also in this direction there will be a number of special recognition awards, to acknowledge retired bankers who contributed to deepening the Nigerian banking sector.
For commercial banks, award categories include Bank of the Year, Bank CEO of the Year, Most Innovative Bank Product of the Year, Best bank in Support of Agriculture, Best Bank in Support of SMEs, Best Bank in Support of Manufacturing, Most Customer Friendly Bank, Best Bank in CSR, Bank Deal of the Year, Best Bank in Internet Technology, Best Bank in Retail Banking, Best Bank in Consumer Banking, Best Bank in Personal/Private Banking.
One interesting thing about this year’s awards is that the criterion of selection across the categories is more sophisticated than what was used for the selection process last year. Banks have to beat the records of their counterparts across several complex parameters before being considered for any of the 16 awards.
For instance, to be considered as Bank of the Year, a bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, Return on Asset, Liquidity Ratio, Net Profit Margin, Percentage growth in Deposits year on year, Loan/deposit ratio has to be the best in the industry.
Apart from this, it has to be innovative, its financials and analysis on them must have to be released early and made accessible through several mediums, especially on its website. But this is not all, the bank has to have been rated high by a customer survey, set up for the purpose of feeling the pulse of bank customers regarding their experience in terms of customer care.
The Bank CEO of the Year award also has its stringent parameters. The winner will be a bank MD/CEO who steered his bank to achieve very good results in terms of the parameters already mentioned for Bank of the Year, as well as an endorsement of his leadership style and results based on an anonymous survey of staff within his bank.
The Most Innovative Bank Product award goes to that bank which introduced a unique product that made banking easier for customers in 2013. And that product has to be one which may also focus on the unbanked.
There are categories which strictly reward obvious developmental strides and sector finance. In this direction, award categories recognize support of Agriculture, SMEs, CSR and Export finance.
The Best Bank in Support of Agriculture award is aimed at recognizing the commercial bank that disbursed the most funds in support of agriculture and financed the biggest agricultural deal in 2013. The Best bank in Support of SMEs is awarded to the bank whose activities has helped finance the most SMEs and grown small businesses.
In the case of Best Bank in support of Manufacturing, the primary basis of selection is the amount a bank disbursed to the manufacturing sector in 2013. But manufacturers were also instrumental at indicating banks which have assisted them with funding. This method was also adopted in determining the Best Export Trade Financing bank.
Awards are not only based on financials and fund disbursements. Treatment of customers was also considered a major performance indicator for banks. A nationwide survey and focus group discussion was used to determine which bank should be awarded the Most Customer Friendly Bank. The survey pooled together respondents from 11 states including Lagos, Plateau, Rivers, Zamfara, Osun, Kano, Kogi, Ekiti, and Anambra.
In the microfinance category, the Microfinance Bank of the Year was selected based on the level of spread of branches or bank network of the microfinance banks, size of loan portfolio and number of depositors in each of the microfinance banks. These were used to select the best microfinance bank of the year.
Other important award categories like Bank Deal of the Year, Best Bank in IT, Best Bank in Retail Banking, Best Bank in Consumer Banking were selected using criteria which are in tune with global best practice.
As expected, the audious, complex and intellectually demanding selection process was undertaken by a team of economists, financial analyst and survey experts. Therefore, banks are expected to look forward to an interesting an exhilarating event.
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