Business
Life’s a Lot More Easier with FirstBank Cards
By Eric Elezuo
Like the dynamite, few things in life come in small in packages, but have far reaching benefits and rewards. One of such is the FirstBank range of cards.
The world as we know it today, is a global village, and its connectivity is a at tip of an individual’s finger. That aside, it also revolves round the use of ‘ordinary’ but highly customised cards which FirstBank is first in providing.
For 125 years and counting, FirstBank, Nigeria’s premier bank, with accolades and awards trailing its existence, has continued to blaze the trail in certainly every financial innovation. And as the name signifies, has continued to be the first in virtually everything banking and finance. There is hardly any banking innovation, which is not traced to the company that has overtime woven itself into the very fabric of the society.
FirstBank cards come in a wide range of categories, each fulfilling tasks that are better imagined, but nevertheless are flexible and offers comfort, stressless banking and wholesome peace of mind. It is not therefore, a coincidence that FirstBank is and remains Nigeria’s highest card transacting bank; it is a product of carefully thought out process, hard work and the need to keep its customers first in all things.
The range of cards available to FirstBank include Naira Master Card, Visa Gold and not forgetting Visa Multi-Currency Card.
Otherwise known as NMC, FirstBank’s NAIRA MASTER CARD (NMC) is a class on its own. it comes with automatic increased limits for international transactions in a such a way that customers are at liberty to spend up to $5000 monthly across all channels with a daily ATM cash withdrawal limit of $300. It’s surely a great deal! One wonderful thing about the NMC is there is absolutely no need for BTA/PTA, Business Travelling Allowance and Personal Travelling Allowance respectively.
To enjoy absolute seamless transactions with NMC, customers should endeavour to:
- Change their PIN before travelling out of the country to avoid transaction failures/invalid card.
- Not to swipe their cards on any terminal, rather, should insert card and use their PIN
- Tap with their Naira MasterCard contactless cards to make payments for their transport fares if in the UK.
Other mouth watering offers the NMC provides involves access to seamless airline bookings, especially with Emirates Airlines. The service quick, secure and convenient.
It also offers the Protect Card Transactions feature, which can be activated or deactivated for all types of transaction. This is done by using the Card-in-Control Service on Firstmobile or the USSD option. To achieve this, the customer can only take these few and quick steps below:
Firstmobile: Go to Self Service – Card service and choose card type (debit, credit, or prepaid) to be activated or deactivated.
USSD: Dial *894# – Quick banking – Card management. Customer selects card and appropriate channels to activate or deactivate.
Generally, FirstBank Naira MasterCard is a chip and PIN Debit Card which can be used anywhere in the world. It offers a convenient alternative to the use of cash, and cheques. It can be used to make purchases online, pay bills and access cash at ATMs worldwide. It is a naira denominated card and linked to both current or savings account.
Another card innovation service exclusive to FirstBank is the VISA GOLD CARD, which offers higher daily spending capacity and limit on ATM, POS and WEB. With the VISA GOLD CARD, the customer is assured of $1000 daily ATM withdrawal, $10, 000 POS transaction and $5, 000 on the WEB at only location around the world.
More so, it guarantees access to international emergency services such as Emergency Card Replacement & Emergency Cash Advance in situations where the card gets lost or damaged.
Like the NMC, Visa Gold Card also requires a customer to change PIN before travelling out of the country and avoid swiping cards on any terminal. It also come in handy when making airline bookings with its smooth seamless purchase options.
FirstBank visa gold card is an international premium credit card issued in partnership with visa international. it is a US Dollars denominated credit card and secured by PIN and chip technology
The third among the FirstBank’s super cards is VISA DEBIT MULTI-CURRENCY CARD. It is by all intent and purpose the first of its kind to be offered by any financial institution in Nigeria. Here, customers within and outside the country can enjoy the luxury of having their local and foreign denominated accounts linked to a single Debit card. It is an enhancement to the existing Visa Debit Dual Currency card and can be linked to either or all your NAIRA, USD, EURO and GBP accounts. It is an international card with Chip and PIN technology which can be used to make payment anywhere in the world and across all channels – ATMs, POS & Web. This is unbeatable, and better explains why FirstBank is truly the first.
Among the qualities that make the card thick are:
- Can be used to make purchases online, pay bills and access cash at ATMs worldwide.
- Secured by Chip & PIN technology with a lifespan of 3 years.
- Requires no Cash collateral before issuance.
- Global acceptance on ATM, POS and WEB.
- Additional protection for web-based transactions with “Verified by Visa” (VbV).
With the Visa Debit Multi-Currency card, holders can make daily withdrawals to the tune of N150, 000 (local) and $1, 000 (international) from the ATM.
Also, savings account holders can undertake up to N500, 000 transaction on POS while current has more extensive offer of daily POS transaction of N2, 500, 000. However, this offer comes with $2, 500 for international transactions on same channel.
However, on the WEB, a total of N1, 000, 000 is permitted locally while $6, 250 is allowed on the international corridor daily.
For a brand that has consistently remained on top of its game, FirstBank Cards have received global recognition, as well as being honoured for its down to earth and trusted services.
Among its awards and recognitions are:
- Digital Bank of Distinction, Nigeria” award in the Global Finance Best Digital Banks Awards for two consecutive years, 2016 and 2017.
- Cashless Champion Award of MasterCard International on POS International transactions acquiring. (Q1 2017)
- Interswitch awards (2017) in the following categories:
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- Fastest Mobile Penetration in Africa
- Highest Card Transacting Bank in Nigeria
- Highest Verve Issuing Bank
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- FY 2016, the Bank won awards in the eBusiness category. They are:
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- Asian Banker award for Best Mobile Payment Product for West Africa
- Asian Banker award for Credit Card of the Year for West Africa
- Global Finance Award for ‘Digital Bank of Distinction – Emerging Markets, Africa Category’.
- Q4 2015, the Bank won two awards in the eBusiness category. They are:
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- MasterCard Cardless Champion award for International acceptance across all POS channels
- MasterCard Cardless Champion award for Mobile POS (MPOS) merchant acquisition.
In December 2015 and May 2016, FirstBank was named the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained alternative channels transaction volumes of 100 million transactions.
FirstBank’s accolades transcend the ordinary!
What are you waiting for? Visit a FirstBank branch today and complete a debit card application form of your choice.
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has deepened its longstanding relationship with the academic community and reaffirmed its commitment to innovation, youth empowerment, and nation-building by commissioning the UBA Innovation Hub and Business Office at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The landmark facility was commissioned by the Group Chairman, UBA, Tony Elumelu, represented by Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Alawuba, supported by other senior executives of the bank and members of the university leadership, led by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos.
The commissioning marks another defining chapter in the enduring relationship between UBA and one of Nigeria’s foremost institutions of higher learning. The project also reflects UBA’s historic connection with the University of Lagos and Nigeria’s education ecosystem.
UBA was the first bank to establish a campus branch in Nigeria in the 1960s, pioneering financial inclusion and institutional banking support within the nation’s higher education environment.
Adding a personal dimension to the occasion, UBA Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, himself an alumnus of the University of Lagos, described the commissioning as both symbolic and strategic.
“Returning to my alma mater for this commissioning makes this moment particularly meaningful. Universities remain the birthplace of ideas, innovation, and future leadership. Through this investment, UBA is reaffirming its belief in young people and in the role institutions like the University of Lagos will continue to play in shaping Africa’s future.”
He added that UBA’s philosophy of empowering people and building institutions remains central to its growth agenda across Africa.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola, who emphasised that Elumelu remains “a son of the university”, commended UBA for sustaining a relationship built on impact, innovation, and institutional support.
“The Group Chairman of UBA, Mr Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu, CFR, one of Africa’s most celebrated entrepreneurs and philanthropists, is, in the truest and most meaningful sense, a son of this University,” Ogunsola said.
Ogunsola continued, “The intellectual rigour, the ambition, and the broadness of vision that he would go on to demonstrate as he transformed a struggling bank into a pan-African institution of global stature, that fire was sharpened here.”
The newly commissioned four-floor complex has been designed as a shared platform that promotes collaboration between academia and industry. Under the arrangement, UBA will operate its dedicated Business Office within the facility, providing direct access to innovative banking services, financial advisory services, enterprise support, and engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and the wider university community. The remaining floors of the complex will serve broader institutional and developmental purposes for the University’s use.
Also speaking, UBA’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, noted that the Innovation Hub and Business Office represent an intentional investment in talent, enterprise, and future economic transformation.
“UBA continues to create platforms that connect knowledge with opportunity. This facility will provide students and the university community access to ideas, networks, innovation support, and financial services that help unlock potential and prepare future leaders for a rapidly changing world,” he said.
In another major highlight of the event, the University of Lagos announced the renewal of UBA’s sponsorship and support for the Professorial Chair in Finance, further strengthening collaboration between academia and industry and advancing thought leadership, research, and professional excellence in financial studies.
Alawuba stressed that the UBA Professorial Chair remains the bank’s most enduring academic contribution.
“Our most enduring academic contribution remains the UBA Professorial Chair of Finance, established in January 1972 as the first-ever Finance Professorial Chair in a Nigerian university. It was designed to strengthen finance education, deepen banking research, and support thought leadership in Nigeria’s financial sector. I am pleased that the Executive Management of UBA has approved an additional ₦61.67 million to further strengthen the Endowment Fund for the Chair and sustain its work through the current professorship tenure.”
The commissioning of the UBA Innovation Hub and Business Office reinforces the bank’s broader mission of enabling sustainable development through strategic investments in education, entrepreneurship, technology, and human capital across Africa.
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening diaspora engagement, advancing healthcare development in Nigeria through the introduction of its healthcare investment proposition to the Nigerian-American medical community at the 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The ANPA Carolinas Symposium, hosted annually by the South Carolina and North Carolina Chapters of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), convenes over 170 physicians and healthcare professionals for medical and scientific dialogue on issues impacting communities across North America, the Caribbean, and Africa, particularly among people of Nigerian descent.
Speaking at the event, UBA’s Head of Diaspora Banking, Anant Rao, made a compelling case for structured diaspora participation in Nigeria’s healthcare transformation, encouraging attendees to expand their contribution beyond remittances toward long-term institution-building.
“The financial infrastructure required to connect your success abroad to sustainable institutional impact at home has not been intentionally designed for diaspora healthcare investors until now,” Rao said.
During his presentation, Rao introduced the ANPA–UBA Diaspora Healthcare Investment Platform — a professionally managed investment vehicle designed to channel diaspora capital into specialist hospitals, diagnostic centres, telemedicine infrastructure, and medical training institutions across Nigeria.
“Every dollar invested delivers a dual return — creating value for investors while contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s healthcare future. We now have the regulatory framework, banking infrastructure, governance structures, and institutional commitment to make this possible,” he added.
Under the proposed structure, UBA will serve as custodian and structuring bank, while United Capital Asset Management, one of Nigeria’s leading asset managers with over ₦1.2 trillion in assets under management, will act as fund manager.
As part of deepening engagement with the Nigerian-American medical community, Rao also proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UBA and the two ANPA chapters. The proposed collaboration is anchored on six strategic pillars: preferred banking offerings for ANPA members; quarterly financial education sessions; the joint Healthcare Infrastructure Fund; a dedicated ANPA Wealth and Legacy Desk; access to group-rate family healthcare plans through Avon HMO; and a UBA co-matching contribution framework to support qualifying impact vehicles under the Pearl Endowment Fund.
The initiative represents a further expansion of UBA’s diaspora value proposition, which currently includes Non-Resident Nigerian (NRN) accounts in multiple currencies, fixed-income and dollar-denominated investment solutions through United Capital, elder-care trust solutions under the Homeland Anchor Care Trust programme in partnership with Avon HMO, and private wealth management offerings tailored to senior diaspora professionals.
The 2026 ANPA Carolinas Symposium marks another milestone in UBA’s strategic engagement with the diaspora community and reinforces the Bank’s long-held belief that diaspora capital can play a transformative role in accelerating healthcare and infrastructure development across Africa.
Business
One-Day MD/CEO Children’s Day Initiative: Wema Bank Makes Final Call for Submission of Entries
As the deadline of May 20, 2026, fast approaches, Wema Bank has announced the last call for submissions for children and teens interested in participating in becoming MD/CEO of Wema Bank for one day.
Launched in May 2025 as part of Wema Bank’s 80th anniversary celebration, the One-Day MD/CEO initiative was introduced by Wema Bank to commemorate Children’s Day in a uniquely unprecedented manner. Inspired by the Bank’s 80th anniversary theme “80 Years of Impact, A Future of Possibilities”, the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO initiative served as a bridge between past and future, giving children across Nigeria the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the MD/CEO of Wema Bank for one day—Children’s Day.
As 12-year-old Chiderije Mbah emerged winner, the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO initiative dominated the conversation on May 27, 2025, with children across Nigeria inspired to put in the work towards a successful future and parents commending the Bank’s consistent commitment to empowering children and helping them build the right future. This year, 2026, the Wema Bank One-Day MD/CEO initiative has returned on a larger scale.
For the 2026 Children’s Day celebration, Wema Bank will give another child or teenager [ages 0-16] a chance to step into the shoes of Managing Director/CEO of Wema Bank, for a day. The child will get to oversee board meetings, make tactical decisions, and experience firsthand the demands and responsibilities that come with the office of MD/CEO, especially for an institution like Wema Bank, Nigeria’s oldest indigenous national bank, most innovative and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT.
To participate, children/teens are expected to record a 60-second video detailing what their ideal role in banking would be and what they hope to achieve. This video is to be posted on any social media platform using #EvolutionOfPossibilities and tagging @wemabank on the post. The post with the highest number of likes emerges winner and the winner gets to become MD/CEO of Wema Bank on Monday, May 25, 2026, in celebration of Children’s Day.
Both parents and teens are encouraged to hurry and make their submissions now as entry closes in less than two days, specifically on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
More details on the Bank’s social media platforms @wemabank
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