Zenith Bank is one of Nigeria’s largest banks. The bank currently has a shareholder base of about one million and is the biggest tier-1 bank in Nigeria.
Founded by Jim Ovia in 1990, the bank has since grown astronomically to become one of the leading financial institutions in Africa. Zenith Bank Plc currently ranks as the 6th biggest bank in the continent. The Bank grew its shareholder’s fund of N20million in 1990 to N509.25billion as at year end 2013. Today, the Bank continues to thrive on the strong values, brand equity, corporate culture of professionalism and service excellence which are the foundations upon which the bank was built.
Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc has over 500 branches and business offices in prime commercial centres in all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In March 2007, Zenith Bank was licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom to establish Zenith Bank (UK) Limited as the United Kingdom subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc. Zenith Bank also has subsidiaries in: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, . The bank also has representative offices in South Africa and The People’s Republic of China. The Bank plans to take the Zenith brand to other African countries as well as the European and Asian markets.
Within the 25 years of its existence, the bank has emerged as a financial powerhouse with its excellent performance on all parameters, consistently attracting commendations at home and internationally. It has earned various award and commendation Nigeria and also overseas. It was recently said to be one of the ’20 Global Super Brands’ by FTSE Global Markets.
Zenith Bank won the KPMG award as Nigeria’s Most Customer-focused Bank. Both the retail and corporate customers surveyed highlighted excellent customer service, financial stability and image/reputation – all core strength of the Zenith brand, as among the top consideration for maintaining a banking relationship.
Zenith bank’s lending strategy stresses rational procedures and transparency. As a result of this approach, the Bank’s credit portfolio has about the best asset quality in the Nigerian banking industry. The Bank’s non-performing loans to total loans ratio has always been less than industry average since inception and through the thick of the global financial crises in 2008/2009.
The bank recently broke all known records as the first bank in Nigeria to cross the
N100billion threshold in profit after tax (PAT)
For close to a decade, zenith bank has instituted a full- blown corporate social responsibility organ. “Zenith philanthropy”, through which it reaches out to touch its host communities and the larger society. The bank’s CSR has touched on Health, Education, Environment, ICT/Youth Empowerment, and Sports Development. On this, Zenith bank prides itself as one of the most decorated corporate organizations in Nigeria, in recognition of their robust CSR activities.
With total asset of N3.4trillion as at September, 2014, and about 2million accounts, Zenith bank is a top brands in Nigeria
