Is Access Holdings PLC Losing Grip of Corporate Reputation and Mission Statement?
By Godson Ikoro
Recent events have raised concerns about Access Bank’s commitment to its mission statement and corporate reputation. The bank has been involved in several high-profile cases where it has frozen customers’ accounts without valid court orders, only to be later found guilty of wrongdoing and ordered to pay damages.
According to Charles Fombrun, a renowned expert on corporate reputation, “the overall estimation in which an organization is held by its constituents” is a key factor in determining its reputation. Revolnews online investigation this week revealed that Access Bank’s actions have led to a significant erosion of trust among its customers and the banking public.
The bank’s mission statement emphasizes “setting standards for sustainable business practices that unleash the talents of our employees, deliver superior value to our customers, and provide innovative solutions for the markets and communities we serve”. However, its recent conduct appears to be at variance with this statement.
For example, Access Bank has been fined multiple times by regulatory bodies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for various infractions, including foreign exchange infractions, wrong account opening, and cyber security incidents. The bank has paid over N2 billion in fines and penalties in recent years.
The repeated fines, breaches, and defiance of court orders raise questions about Access Bank’s commitment to responsible banking practices and its certification with the Compliance Management System ISO 37301: 2021 standards.
More specifically, the recent face off and public exchanges between the Chairman of COSON, Tony Okoroji and the Chairman of Access Bank Holdco, Mr. Paul Usoro, is still trending in the social media. Okoroji had reportedly described Access Bank as practicing Jankara Banking.
The Copyright Society of Nigeria’ (COSON) had its accounts frozen by Access Bank without valid court order, prompting COSON to sue the bank for N2billion in damages. The Federal High Court Lagos ruled in COSON’S favour; ordering Access Bank to unfreeze the accounts and pay N70million in damages. Despite the court order, the bank refused to comply. Consequently, COSON filed contempt charges against the Managing Director and Company Secretary .
Access Bank has developed the penchants to freeze customers account without court order, an action too many for a bank that prides itself on setting sustainable standards.
Consider the following litany of decided cases.
Access Bank froze the accounts of Ganiyu Olawale Toheeb – account numbers 1456049856 and 1459254408 from February 2nd to March 8th 2023 at the instance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission without a valid court order. The court ruled that case in favour of Toheeb and awarded N300,000 general damages against Access Bank and EFCC.
Similarly, Access Bank froze the account of Adenike Akinlade for 29 months without valid court order, causing significant financial and reputation harm to the customer.
The court ordered Access Bank to pay N10million in damages.
The same same goes for Oluwasesan Ifeoluwa Bridget whose account was placed under a post no bill(PND) restrictions without a valid court order. This caused the customer extreme financial and emotional distress. The court awarded N7million in damages against Access Bank.
Aside unlawful freezing of accounts,
Access bank has also been fined multiple times by regulatory bodies, CBN and SEC for various infractions across the years.
For instance , in 2020, CBN fined Access Bank N464.23 million for foreign exchange infraction and contravening CBN circular directives.
In 2022, the bank was fined, N604million for wrong account opening, breaching of forex guidelines and account administration agreement.
Also in 2023 it paid N81. 6 million for employment infractions and late rendition of returns.
Further more, in 2024, Access Bank paid N1. 21billion for various regulatory breaches including all compliance and cyber security incidents. It was further fined N100.6billion for various unauthorized sales by SEC.
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These Access Bank’s actions have led and still leading to a significant erosion of trust among its customers and the banking public.
These repeated fines, breaches and defiance of court orders strongly suggests that Access Bank Holdco , particularly its banking subsdiary is struggling to live up to its mission statement especially when it comes to setting standards for sustainable business practices.
Why does Access display this pattern of non compliance which in turn questions it’s commitment to responsible banking practices.
Revolnews investigation revealed that a combination of factors explain this. While the fines imposed are significant, Access Bank sees it as cost of doing business especially if the bank gains more from the actions than it loses. It is operating with the dictum: if the gain is tremendous and will positively add to the profit, break the law and pay the fines. Access Bank however, needs to rejig and make effective its internal control to ensure strict adherence to compliance of regulations to avoid such infractions.
Access Bank may be priotizing short term gains over long term sustainability or struggling with its internal control.
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