PRESS RELEASE
Lagos, 19 August 2019, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider, has announced the launch of the Verve Global Card. In partnership with Verve International (Interswitch Group) and Discover Financial Services, the launch took place at Times Square New York City on Monday, 12 August 2019.
In attendance at the event were FirstBank’s Deputy Managing Director, Gbenga Shobo; Group Executive, eBusiness & Retail Products, Chuma Ezirim; Head, Card & Messaging Business, Folasade Femi-Lawal and Interswitch Group’s Founder/GMD, Mitchell Elegbe and Divisional CEO, Verve, Mike Ogbalu. Discover Financial Services’ Senior Vice President, Payment Services, Joseph Hurley and Executive Vice President, Payment Services, Diane Offereins, amongst others were also in attendance.
The Verve Global Card, an introduction by Verve International to FirstBank, is a new entry to the array of card products offered by FirstBank to its customers. The FirstBank Verve Global Card is an enhancement to the existing Verve Debit card with exclusive capacity for domestic and cross border transactions across all channels. The card can be linked to Savings & Current accounts, with a “Safetoken” extra protection for web-based transactions.
Speaking on the launch, Deputy Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Gbenga Shobo said, “in partnership with Verve International, we are pleased to launch the Verve Global Card as it reinforces our commitment to putting our customers first with innovative and state of the art financial products and services that promote seamless transactions regardless of where they are across the globe.”
“I enjoin every FirstBank customer and the general public to visit the nearest FirstBank branch and request for the card to enjoy seamless cashless transactions” he concluded.
The first transaction of the Verve Global Card was carried-out by the Deputy Managing Director, FirstBank, Gbenga Shobo at Swarovski Shop located on Times Square.
About FirstBank
First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading banking services solutions provider in Nigeria for 125 years. With some 15 million customer accounts, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services with over 750 business locations. The Bank has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.
Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.
FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is to always put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of first choice in building your future”. Our brand promise is to always deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.
Folake Ani-Mumuney
Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications