Sterling Bank Plc has been awarded the Non-Interest Bank of the Year, Africa 2016, for its Non-interest banking window known as ‘Sterling Alternative Finance.’ The award courtesy “The European,” is one of the major categories at the Global Banking & Finance Awards held in London.
Sterling Bank commenced non interest banking in 2013 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted the bank the license to operate the window.
The bank in a statement made available over the weekend noted that the award was conferred based on its success story in the last three years coupled with its ability to use non interest banking contracts to structure transactions in the most unique manner.
With about 200 branches offering non interest banking services, the bank’s coverage which is considered the best in Africa, quality of staff, consultants and advisors such as Sheikh Abdulkader Thomas who belongs to several advisory boards globally, also gave the bank an edge over competitors.
The statement from the bank reads further: “Since 2013, we have achieved major milestones which include a line of US$30 million from the Islamic Corporation for Development (ICD) and US$25 million from the International Islamic Finance Trade Corporation (ITFC). Both institutions are members of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In the same vein, the CBN has approved an array of innovative non-interest financial instruments for us in 2016 which will keep us ahead of industry performance.
The Bank stated that “as we celebrate the international recognition that has come via this award, Sterling Bank will continue to intensify efforts to sell our Sterling Alternative Finance offerings to customers and prospects and remain a reference institution in the area of non-interest banking not only in Africa but globally”.
Sterling Bank Plc, “the one-customer bank”, is a full-service national commercial bank with an asset base above N800 billion with over 190 business offices and more than 800 ATMs nationwide. In over 55 years of service, Sterling Bank (formerly NAL Bank) has evolved from the nation’s pre-eminent investment banking institution to a fully-fledged commercial bank. Furthermore, with a strong national presence, Sterling Bank is one of the top 30 most capitalized institutions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The bank is also one of Nigeria’s fastest growing banks and is recognized as a dynamic financial services organization.