By Merit Ibe
The Abbey Mortgage Bank, a leading mortgage institution in the country has restated its commitment to fostering sustainable growth and practices within the banking industry.
It made the commitment at its 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) themed: “Excellence in Sustainable Leadership,” where it emphasised its dedication to excellence, growth performance and future strategies, that contributed to its ongoing success.
The key areas for discussion focused on its growth, highlighting the bank’s exceptional year on year performance and the unveiling of its strategies for the future. Other areas discussed, included market trends, innovative banking solutions, and how to further enhance customer experience. The management team emphasised their commitment to maintaining a strong balance between profitability and sustainability, aligning with the theme of the event.
The bank received commendations from shareholders for its outstanding achievements and recognition in 2022, hailing its various awards; including Best Mortgage Bank Brand from the Institute of Brand Management, Nigeria and Best Mortgage Bank CEO from the Africa Housing Awards. These notable industry accolades serve as testaments to its exceptional performance and dedication to excellence.
The Group Head, Retail Sales and E-Business, Felix Omodayo Owotuga, said the purpose of the event was for the AGM to unveil the bank’s new digital product which is the corporate internal banking, one of the innovations trends “we are bringing out as a bank. We have looked at the system so last year we introduced a mobile app basically for the retail customers. We have looked out how best to serve customers who are SMEs, because our plan as a bank is to move banking away from bricks and mortar and move it into a digital space.
“One of the things we have done is to say okay, lets make a provision for this set of customers, that was why we brought out the corporate internal banking, so that customers will be able to do their transactions seamlessly without coming into the banking hall”.
“We have been able to put digital innovations into the mortgage sector so that while you are doing your normal mortgage with us, you are also doing your normal transaction also by depositing and withdrawing at anytime.”
For his part, Oldipupo Adeoye, Executive Director, Business Growth and Treasury, said as a mortgage bank, it is only allowed to fund developers and people who are willing to buy homes.
“What we have done to support the value chain is that we ensure that any developer we are supporting, we are also able to showcase their inventory to our HMI customers and our retail customers to be able to key in so that eventually, we are funding the entire value chain both from the supply side and the demand side, that has been our strategy.
During the meeting, shareholders re-elected two esteemed individuals to the board: Brig-Gen John Obasa and High Chief Samuel Oni. Their valuable expertise and profound servitude to the bank’s mission will undoubtedly continue to enrich the bank’s strategic goals.
Abbey Mortgage Bank remains steadfast to its mission to being the leading mortgage bank out of Africa, by delivering exceptional financial solutions whilst championing sustainable practices.