E-Financial
Access Holdings to Use Tech in Raising N365bn Capital
Access Holdings, the parent company of Nigeria’s largest bank, Access Bank, has said that it will be going fully digital for its N365bn rights issue.
Bolaji Agbede, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings
In a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the holding company said it was seeking to raise N365bn through a rights issue to fortify its capital base, support expansion and its ability to seize emerging opportunities in the financial sector.
It is also seeking a combined capital raise of up to $1.5bn via equity, quasi-equity, and debt issuances.
Speaking with journalists at the second Annual General Meeting of the Holdco, the chairman, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, disclosed that digital technology would play an interesting role in the bank’s capital-raising efforts.
He said, “If you remember the 2004 capital raising, we went around Nigeria. It led to the democratisation of our capital market, others followed suit. The number of shareholders of banks and the capital market increased as a result of that effort.
“This time around, we have digital technology that we are going to deploy fully. There have been public offers that have leveraged digital technology but using Access Bank’s capacity, the NGX’s digital capacity, we are going to do some interesting things.
This rights issue, we have shareholders and each of them would be able to make that investment decision just by touching their phones. That way, the issue of dilution and concerns that they may have about participation would be dealt with.”
On the floor of the AGM, Aig-Imoukhuede took shareholders down memory lane to 2004 when the banking group raised funds and said that they were equal to the task.
He said, “We’re moving on to the rights issue resolution. At this junction, I think we’ll take one minute to crave your indulgence as I appreciate you all for the support you have given our predecessor company, Access Bank, and of course now Access Holdings.
“We have sought to raise capital. The amount that we mention today is high and significant and the capital-raising effort that we are pursuing is a significant step into the future.
“I would like to remind shareholders that between 2004 and 2007, our team when I was CEO raised $2bn of common equity capital. Therefore, come 2024, Access Bank is much older, much wiser, much stronger, larger and significantly respected by the capital market, really raising over N300bn is not much of a challenge.”
Aig-Imoukhuede, who co-founded Access Bank with the late Herbert Wigwe, encouraged minority shareholders to take up their rights, saying, “We are interested in shareholders; large, small continuing with us on our journey. We have always had a unique relationship with the capital market locally and internationally.
“They have always supported us when we come up with good reasons and the performance that would be delivered after such capital raising efforts, so we signalled to the market first that we would be doing a rights issue, what does that mean? We have large institutional shareholders and others but we believe that we must carry everybody along.
“They have been with us thus far and this is not the time to say that we are going to raise money and because a few can do it, no, everybody is going to participate in this capital-raising exercise.”
Speaking on the utilisation of the proceeds from the rights issue, Bolaji Agbede, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, said the banking subsidiary would be getting a huge chunk of it to meet the regulatory requirements of the apex bank.
Agbede said, “In terms of the proceeds from the rights issue which we are hoping to get about N365bn, we will be giving the bulk of it to the banking group to enable them to meet the CBN’s capital requirement.
“Part of the things that they are using it for is as working capital requirements for investment in African subsidiaries as some of the growth in the international subsidiaries that they have.
“If you look at all the headwinds that are coming along, it is important that you have a robust capital plan and this is one of those things that would help them. The other thing that we will also be doing is that some of the amount, not as much as the banking group of course would be going into the non-banking subsidiaries as well.”
Hackers have hit the database of Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest financial institutions, stealing customers’ information.
Zenith confirmed the attack in an email to customers on Tuesday.
The bank said the hackers accessed limited customer information, “including email addresses and phone numbers, during a cyberattack that forms part of a broader global attack on organisations across different sectors”.
The lender stressed that the incident involved only limited customer information, adding that its banking services and digital channels remain secure and fully operational.
The bank said it is investigating the attack, noting that its incident response protocols and other cybersecurity measures were immediately activated after the breach was discovered.
“As a precaution, we encourage our customers to remain vigilant against phishing emails, text messages, or phone calls, and to never disclose their password, PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), or other security credentials to anyone,” the bank said.
Zenith Bank said it remains committed to protecting customers’ information and thanked them for their continued trust, adding that investigations into the incident are ongoing.
In August 2024, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) reported experiencing a similar incident.
The commercial bank said there were attempts to compromise its website domain, but customers’ data was not affected.
The latest attack comes months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned the public of cyber hack attempts to gain access to personal accounts of Nigerians.
The CBN said the hackers were circulating fraudulent messages and emails falsely claiming to originate from the bank.
According to the financial regulator, there were misleading messages circulating, designed to deceive Nigerians and compromise their personal information.
The regulator said the fake communications, which include emails and online messages, often prompt recipients to click suspicious links while spreading false claims about the bank’s leadership, licensing activities, and policy decisions.
Nigerians lost N25.85 billion to digital payment fraud in 2025, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Though the figure represents a significant decline from the N52.26 billion recorded in 2024, CBN, said the losses remained substantial for payment service providers (PSPs).
According to the report, although the value of digital payment fraud declined significantly year-on-year, when compared to the N52.26 billion recorded in the previous year, the losses remained substantial for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), underscoring the need for stronger fraud prevention measures across the industry.
In the report, the CBN, also identified systemic risks, cyber threats, the dominance of a few systemically important payment service providers, and the activities of unlicensed payment companies as major concerns confronting the financial sector.
According to the report, although the value of digital payment fraud declined significantly year-on-year, the losses remained substantial for Payment Service Providers (PSPs), underscoring the need for stronger fraud prevention measures across the industry.
“Digital payment fraud in Nigeria stood at N25.85 billion in 2025,” the apex bank said.
It noted that while this represented a considerable improvement from the N52.26 billion lost in 2024, the amount remained significant.
“Though this was lower than N52.26 billion in the preceding year, it represented a substantial loss for PSPs,” the report stated.
The CBN attributed the reduction in fraud losses to enhanced security measures implemented across the financial sector.
It said, “The lower losses in 2025 reflected improvements in monitoring, BVN-NIN integration, and tighter controls.”
Beyond fraud, the report warned that Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments landscape faces increasing systemic vulnerabilities as banks and fintech companies become more interconnected through shared payment infrastructure.
According to the report, a major operational failure involving a single payment service provider could quickly spread across the financial system because of the growing dependence on integrated payment platforms.
The CBN observed that despite ongoing efforts to strengthen payment system integration, interoperability remains a significant challenge.
It disclosed that about half of fintech stakeholders continued to express dissatisfaction with the current level of system-wide interoperability.
The report stated that “about 50.00 per cent of fintech stakeholders continued to rate system-wide interoperability as poor, primarily due to the lack of universal APIs and data-sharing standards.”
The apex bank also expressed concern over the concentration of payment activities among a few Systemically Important Payment Service (SIPS) providers, warning that operational failures involving any of them could have widespread consequences.
It explained that the failure of such providers could trigger a “domino effect”, where insolvency or operational glitches in one payment service provider spread rapidly to others, disrupting the smooth functioning of the financial system.
Cybersecurity also featured prominently among the risks identified in the report.
The CBN warned that payment service providers remain vulnerable to ransomware attacks, data breaches and credential theft, noting that cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in targeting financial institutions.
According to the report, “Banking and fintech institutions remained prime targets for ransomware, data leaks, and credential theft.”
It added that, “Cyber threats in Nigeria are no longer random cybercrimes, but increasingly targeted, organised, and identity-driven campaigns.”
The report further cautioned Nigerians against transacting with unlicensed payment companies, stressing that such entities operate outside regulatory oversight and expose users to significant financial risks.
It warned that customers using unlicensed PSPs are not protected by existing regulatory safeguards and that such operators could facilitate illicit financial activities.
“Users of unlicensed PSPs are not covered by regulatory protection that comes with effective oversight and supervision,” the CBN said.
It further warned that, “Unlicenced payment companies are gateways for money laundering which could undermine regulatory efforts and corrode public trust.”
The report underscores the growing importance of strengthening fraud detection systems, improving payment infrastructure interoperability, enhancing cybersecurity resilience, and intensifying regulatory oversight as Nigeria continues to expand its digital payments ecosystem.
Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) yesterday announced that medium and large companies in Nigeria that earn income from cryptocurrency and other virtual asset transactions will now be subject to a 30 per cent corporate income tax.
NRS stated this in its new guidelines setting out a tax framework for cryptocurrency and other digital asset transactions.
The guidelines cover registration, record-keeping, valuation, and tax treatment for VASPs, P2P operators, and individuals in the virtual asset space.
NRS said the move is aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance and improving transparency as Nigeria’s digital asset sector grows.
The Guidelines on the Taxation of Virtual Assets, provide a comprehensive framework for the taxation of virtual asset transactions and businesses operating within Nigeria’s digital economy.
The guidelines apply to companies, individual taxpayers, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace operators and other participants in the virtual asset ecosystem
The latest framework follows the signing of the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026 by President Bola Tinubu, which established a coordinated regulatory structure for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenised assets and other digital assets across government agencies.
According to the NRS, companies that derive profits from virtual asset activities will be taxed under the provisions of the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), 2025. While small companies will continue to enjoy applicable tax exemptions under the law, medium and large companies will be liable to the standard 30 per cent corporate income tax rate.
The agency stated that taxable income under the guidelines covers a broad range of virtual asset-related activities, including cryptocurrency trading, the operation of virtual asset exchanges, transaction fees, brokerage commissions, custody and wallet services, token issuance, mining, staking, decentralised finance (DeFi) activities, investment gains and other virtual asset business operations.
According to the guidelines, “Applicable rates under the NTA include progressive rates for individuals, and 30 per cent for companies other than small companies.”
The NRS said the guidelines were introduced to provide clarity, certainty and consistency in the administration of Nigeria’s tax laws as they apply to virtual assets, adding that the framework is intended to improve transparency, encourage voluntary tax compliance and support the development of an efficient tax regime for the digital asset sector.
The agency also clarified that merely holding cryptocurrencies or other virtual assets does not constitute a taxable event.
Any appreciation in the value of a digital asset while it remains in a taxpayer’s possession will not attract income tax until the asset is sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of through a taxable transaction.
Similarly, transfers of cryptocurrencies or other virtual assets between wallets owned and controlled by the same individual are exempt from income tax, provided there is no change in beneficial ownership.
This means that moving digital assets such as Bitcoin or Ether between personal wallets will not trigger a tax liability.
However, the exemption does not extend to transfers involving companies, partnerships, trusts, unincorporated associations or other legal entities, where different tax rules may apply.
The NRS further explained that although these non-taxable transactions do not attract immediate tax, they establish the acquisition cost for future disposals.
Consequently, taxpayers are required to maintain adequate records of acquisitions, transfers and disposals to facilitate accurate tax computations when taxable events occur.
The guidelines also reaffirm that unrealised gains on cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets are not subject to income tax. Instead, tax liability arises only when a taxable disposal takes place, aligning Nigeria’s approach with internationally recognised principles for the taxation of digital assets.
The issuance of the guidelines is expected to provide greater regulatory certainty for investors, businesses and digital asset service providers, while strengthening the government’s efforts to expand the tax base and improve compliance in Nigeria’s growing virtual asset ecosystem.
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