Sterling Bank Plc has been awarded the Non-Interest Bank of the Year – Africa 2016, for its non-interest banking window, Sterling Alternative Finance. The award courtesy “The European,” is one of the major categories at the Global Banking & Finance Awards held in London.
Sterling Bank commenced Non Interest Banking in 2013 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted the Bank the license to operate the window.
The Bank in a statement made available at the weekend noted that the Award was conferred on the bank based on its success story in the last three years alongside its ability to use non-interest banking contracts to structure transactions in the most unique manner.
With about 200 branches offering non-interest banking services, the bank’s coverage that is considered the best in Africa, quality of staff, consultants and advisors such as Sheikh Abdulkader Thomas, who belongs to several advisory boards globally, also gave the Bank an edge over competitors.
The statement from the bank reads further: “Since 2013, we have achieved major milestones which include a line of US$30 million from the Islamic Corporation for Development (ICD) and US$25 million from the International Islamic Finance Trade Corporation (ITFC). Both institutions are members of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In the same vein, the CBN has approved an array of innovative non-interest financial instruments for us in 2016, which will keep us ahead of industry performance.
The bank stated, “as we celebrate the international recognition that has come via this award, Sterling Bank will continue to intensify efforts to sell our Sterling Alternative Finance offerings to customers and prospects and remain a reference institution in the area of non-interest banking not only in Africa but globally.”
