Stanbic IBTC Holdings to start fintech unit as earnings plunge

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc hopes to get the blessings of regulators for the fintech subsidiary it plans to set up any moment soon, the financial services group said on Tuesday.

To be christened Stanbic IBTC Financial Services Limited, the fintech firm will emerge at a time of tough luck for Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which reported a post-tax profit of N39.9 billion for the nine months to September compared with N66.2 billion a year earlier.

Revenue also plummeted by one-fifth within the period.

Lenders in Nigeria are having to seek new income sources to dampen the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings, particularly the arrested growth they reported in loans and advances – banks’ major source of revenue – at half-year 2021 as they grew cautious of their loan book.

“Subject to receiving all required regulatory approvals, including licensing by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the new subsidiary will function primarily as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP),” the holdco said in a note to the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Last January, Stanbic IBTC Holdings discontinued its Bureau De Change operations, about seven weeks after it established a life insurance business, citing policy shift that had enabled customers to purchase forex at branches of its commercial banking arm.

The group is majority owned by Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Standard Bank Group Limited, Africa’s biggest bank by assets.