The FNB paid E 84. 5 million in the first six months of their financial year.
For the last six months of the year, the expected total dividend should be well over E170 million, according to the Bank’s CEO.
The CEO Dennis Mbingo further shared that, 20% of FNB Eswatini shares are owned by local institutions, and 4.99% is owned by the FNB Eswatini Employee Share Trust.
“The Public Service Pension Fund, 7.40% FNB Eswatini Employee Share Trust, 4.99% Swaziland Empowerment Limited,
4.92%, Eswatini National, Provident Fund, 4.46%, Old Mutual Swaziland, 1.20%, Sibaya Umbrella Fund, 1.21% and SNAT Co-operative, 1.00%,” said the CEO when listing the shareholders.
Worth mentioning is that FirstRand EMA Holdings Limited (SA) has 75.01%.
Further, the CEO said emerging trends represent both opportunities and risks, and require stronger awareness, scrutiny, and diligence.
For several years now, the bank has continued to show double-digit growth in customer acquisition, with Total Active Customers growing 10.6% (2023: 13%) during the year.
The CEO further said customer acquisition has been positive across all segments. There was growth in the number of active customers for June 2024.
The retail bank accounts saw a year-on-year increase of 5% making the active accounts 10.5% while commercial was 13.3% with a 3% increase.
This is a further endorsement of the attractiveness of FNB’s value proposition in the market, and especially the broad range of their offerings.
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With a relatively high customer base, and increased demands by customers for a seamless banking experience,
the bank has continued to invest substantial resources in initiatives meant to scale self-service capabilities and to improve in-branch experience, where a branch visit is warranted.
As part of this drive, several initiatives have been rolled out during the year. These include the following:
• Deployment of Coin Depositor Devices and Bulk Note Depositors to complement the ADT & ATM network and reduce queues.
• Improvement in capabilities to open bank accounts remotely through our Customer Support Centre
• Digitization of account Confirmation Letters and Bank Statements
• Remote Personal Loan application through our Customer Support Centre of the FNB Banking App
• Addition of two new service centers, one at the Matsapha Lifestyle Centre and a mobile agency at Buhleni in Hhohho.
Another highlight and emphasis on the report was payment changes that may impact the sector for several reporting periods
“Significant changes to our Payments platforms at a regional and domestic level started landing in the 2023 calendar year, with more being affected this year and into the medium-term.
These specifically relate to the migration of Common Monetary Area / CMA (South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, and Lesotho) cross-border transactions from EFT channels to SWIFT,” said Mbingo.
He further said the implementation of multiple modules will enable the new Eswatini Payments Switch under the Central Bank of Eswatini.
“Customer impact will be managed through extensive communication.
The bank also expects that these transformative projects will require substantial funding to be set aside by industry participants, and especially FNB Eswatini,” he said.
Their financial impact should start to be reflected in the 2025 financial year, and indicative amounts will be disclosed by the bank as progress is made.
