Access Bank plc, commonly known as Access Bank, is a Nigerian multinationalcommercial bank, owned by Access Bank Group. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator. Originally a corporate bank, the organization acquired personal and business banking platforms from Nigeria’s International Commercial bank in 2012. Access Bank is presently one of the five largest banks in Nigeria in terms of assets, loans, deposits and branch network. The merger of Access Bank and Diamond Bank on 1 April 2019 has made Access Bank the largest bank in Africa. In conclusion of its merger with Diamond Bank, Access Bank Plc, unveiled its new logo, signalling the commencement of a new enlarged banking entity.
Locations
The bank's headquarters is located in the city ofLagos, the most commercial city of Nigeria. The coordinates of the bank's headquarters are: 6.43337513, 3.44531357.
Overview
Access Bank plc is a large financial-services provider. the bank had an asset base in excess of US$12.2 billion, and shareholders' equity valued at approximately US$1.86 billion.
2005: Access Bank acquired Marina Bank and Capital Bank by merger.
2007: Access Bank established a subsidiary in Banjul, The Gambia. This bank now has a head office and four branches, and the bank has pledged to open another four branches.
2008: Access Bank acquired 88% of the shares of Omnifinance Bank, which was established in 1996. It also acquired 90% of Banque Privée du Congo, which South African investors had established in 2002. Access Bank acquired 75% of the shares of Bancor SA, in Rwanda. Bancor had been established in 1995 and reorganized in 2001. In September, Access Bank opened a subsidiary in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and then in October, the bank opened subsidiaries in Lusaka, Zambia and in London, United Kingdom.
2008: Finbank joined the Access Bank network, but exited the group in 2014.
2011: Access Bank was in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria to acquire Intercontinental Bank plc.
Intercontinental Bank became a subsidiary of Access Bank plc, which recapitalized the former and acquired a 75% majority interest in its stock.
The combined effect of the restoration of Net Asset Value to zero by AMCON and N50billion capital injection by Access Bank plc is that Intercontinental Bank now operates as a well-capitalized bank, with shareholders funds of N50billion and Capital Adequacy Ratio of 24%, well above the 10% regulatory threshold.
January 2012: Access Bank announced the conclusion of its acquisition of the former Intercontinental Bank, creating an expanded Access Bank, one of the largest four commercial banks in Nigeria with over 5.7 million customers, 309 branches and over 1,600 Automated Teller Machines.
2012: The London High Court indicted former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Erastus Akingbola to refund over $1 billion to Access Bank.
2018: In December 2018, Access Bank PLC acquires Diamond Bank, the board of Diamond Bank announces that her merger with Access Bank Plc expected to be completed in first half of 2019.
2020: Access Bank acquires Kenya’s Transnational Bank, including 100 percent of shareholding and 28 branches around Kenya.
