Access Bank Plc, commonly known as Access Bank, is a Nigerian multinational commercial bank, owned by Access Bank Group. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the central bank and national banking regulator.
The bank's headquarters is located in the city of Lagos, the largest city of Nigeria. The coordinates of the bank's headquarters are: 6°26'38.0"N, 3°24'55.0"E (Latitude:6°26'38.0"N; Longitude:3°24'55.0"E).
As of December 2015, Access Bank Plc is a large financial services provider, with an asset base in excess of US$12.2 billion (NGN:2.412 trillion), and shareholders' equity valued at approximately US$1.86 billion (NGN:367.8 billion) *Note US$1.00 = NGN305 on 15 January 2017
As of December 2015, Access Bank Plc had subsidiaries in eight Sub-Saharan African countries and the United Kingdom.
The bank received its license from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1989, and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998.
2002: Access Bank was taken over by a core of new management led by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe.
2005: Access Bank acquired Marina Bank and Capital Bank (the former Commercial Bank (Crédit Lyonnais Nigeria)) by merger.
2007: Access Bank established a subsidiary in Banjul, The Gambia. This bank now has a head office and four branches, and the bank has pledged to open another four branches.
2008: Access Bank acquired 88% of the shares of Omnifinance Bank, which was established in 1996. It also acquired 90% of Banque Privée du Congo, which South African investors had established in 2002. Access Bank acquired 75% of the shares of Bancor SA, in Rwanda. Bancor had been established in 1995 and reorganized in 2001. In September Access Bank opened a subsidiary in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and then in October, the bank opened subsidiaries in Lusaka, Zambia and in London, United Kingdom.
2008: Finbank (Burundi) joined the Access Bank network, but exited the group in 2014.
2011: Access Bank in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria to acquire Intercontinental Bank Plc.
Further to the approval of the shareholders of both banks, court sanction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria and approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities & Exchange Commission, Access Bank Plc (“Access”) and Intercontinental Bank Plc (“Intercontinental Bank”) announce the completion of the recapitalization of Intercontinental Bank and the acquisition of 75% majority interest in Intercontinental Bank by Access Bank Plc. Effective today, Intercontinental Bank (including all its assets, liabilities and undertakings) becomes a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc.
The combined effect of the restoration of Net Asset Value (NAV) to zero by AMCON and N50billion capital injection by Access Bank Plc is that Intercontinental Bank now operates as a well capitalized bank, with shareholders funds of N50billion and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 24%, well above the 10% regulatory threshold.
January 2012: Access Bank announced the conclusion of its acquisition of the former Intercontinental Bank, creating an expanded Access Bank, one of the largest four commercial banks in Nigeria with over 5.7 million customers, 309 branches and over 1,600 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
