Media reports sighted by Investogist says that Standard Chartered Plc has concluded plans to close down at least half of its Nigerian branches.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the Nigerian subsidiary of the London-listed bank has already shut down some of its offices in December and will eventually reduce its branches to only 13 in the country from about 25.
Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, the the local division of London-headquartered multinational banking and financial services firm Standard Chartered Plc, is discontinuing operation of around 50 per cent of branches in Nigeria, a step targeting prioritization of digital banking, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing insiders.
Nigerian Lenders are deploying mobile money services on a vast scale in Nigeria to tap the market of the unbanked population comprising approximately 38 million adults, which Dataphyte estimated to be worth N26.2 trillion for the first 11 months of last year.
Banks are opting out of opening more physical branches, cutting costs by building networks of authorized agents, or people within communities to sell their products and services.
