The development positions the bank among financial institutions that have complied with the apex bank’s directive aimed at strengthening the capital base of deposit money banks, enhancing financial system resilience, and enabling banks to support economic expansion through increased lending and financial services.

With the strengthened capital structure, Parallex Bank said it is now better positioned to scale operations, deepen financial inclusion, and introduce more innovative financial solutions for individuals and businesses.

Speaking on the milestone, Dr. Olufemi Bakre, managing director/chief executive officer of Parallex Bank, described the recapitalisation as a reflection of the institution’s commitment to long-term growth and operational excellence.

According to him, the improved capital base will enable the bank to expand its lending capacity, support emerging sectors of the economy, and deliver more customer-centric financial services.

Bakre also acknowledged the role of the bank’s board and stakeholders, noting that their strategic guidance and oversight were instrumental in ensuring the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise within the required timeframe.

The recapitalisation programme forms part of broader regulatory efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen the banking sector’s resilience against economic shocks while positioning financial institutions to play a more active role in driving economic growth.

Industry analysts say stronger capital buffers are increasingly critical as Nigerian banks navigate a rapidly evolving financial landscape shaped by digital banking, fintech competition, and rising demand for credit from small businesses and emerging sectors.

For Parallex Bank, the successful recapitalisation signals a new phase of strategic expansion, as the bank seeks to leverage its strengthened balance sheet to grow its footprint and deepen its role in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.

Left in the race with the option of either meeting up, merging or closing shop are Keystone Bank, Parallex Bank, Polaris Bank, Signature Bank, TAJBank and Citibank Nigeria.

Others are FBN Quest Merchant Bank, Coronation Merchant Bank and Rand Merchant Bank.

Meanwhile, First Bank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank and FSDH Merchant Bank have joined the league of recapitalised banks.

This is as analysts say they expect more banks to conclude their recapitalisation plans between next week and the end of this month.

Earlier report shows that 17 banks met the new capital requirements  for their respective licence categories last year.

These included Access Holdings, Zenith Bank, GTBank, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC, Wema Bank, Jaiz Bank, Lotus Bank, Providus Bank, Greenwich Merchant Bank and PremiumTrust Bank, alongside Globus Bank, Citibank Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Nova Bank, Sterling Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria.

More recently, First Bank, Fidelity Bank and FSDH Merchant Bank also joined the list.

Fidelity Bank Plc has raised approximately N250 billion through a private placement. This offer opened and closed on December 31, 2025, driven by substantial investor demand fuelled by the bank’s impressive financial performance and solid track record.

A source close to the lender stated that this swift completion is a notable achievement for Nigeria’s stock market.

NGX regulations typically allow up to 10 days for such private placements.

Fidelity Bank aims to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N500 billion minimum capital requirement for banks with international authorisation by the March 31, 2026 deadline.

Reportedly, participation was limited to a small circle of pre-qualified institutional investors, many with global investment footprints.

Market intelligence estimates the proceeds at roughly N250 billion, comfortably exceeding the bank’s estimated capital gap of N194.5 billion.

This fully subscribed offer places Fidelity Bank among the more strongly capitalised Nigerian banks with international operations.

While the CBN is yet to ratify the new capital base of some of these banks, they seem to have scaled the hurdle, with some others set to scale it soon.

A player in the industry who craved anonymity noted that many of the banks yet to clear the hurdle are expected to do so before the end of the month, with announcements expected from next week.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso had late last year confirmed the progress of banks in their race to meet the deadline.

Cardoso had stated that “several banks have already met the new capital thresholds, while others are advancing steadily and are well positioned to comfortably meet the March 31, 2026 deadline.”

He disclosed that 27 banks had accessed the capital market through public offers and rights issues, with 16 already meeting or exceeding the new benchmarks, adding that beyond headline figures, stress tests conducted in 2025 showed that the banking system remained fundamentally robust, with key financial soundness indicators meeting prudential standards across the board.

Despite the progress, several lenders are still fine-tuning their capital plans.

The First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Group is among those in advanced stages of capital raising and regulatory verification.

Shareholders of FCMB Group Plc at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) recently approved an increase in capital raise of up to N400 billion to enable it to retain its international banking licence ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

Group chief executive officer of the bank, Ladi Balogun, noted that “the additional capital will be deployed to strengthen our capital adequacy ratio and accelerate growth.”

Analysts say mergers and acquisitions remain limited for now, but ownership changes are becoming increasingly likely as banks court new investors.

Head of Financial Institutions Ratings at Agusto and Co, Ayokunle Olubunmi, said only a few institutions remain under real pressure.

“Nothing dramatic has happened yet on the mergers front, but by January or February, we could see clearer outcomes. Capital raising through private placements and rights issues will inevitably lead to dilution for shareholders who do not participate,” he said.

The race for capital has also triggered a wave of strategic realignments.

Nova Bank opted to downgrade its licence to a regional banking status, significantly lowering its requirement to N50 billion to beat the deadline.

Meanwhile, consolidation is picking up steam; Union Bank has merged with Titan Trust Bank, and Providus Bank is set to merge with Unity Bank, a move that would create Nigeria’s ninth-largest lender by assets.

The much publicised Future of Payments and Commerce Conference 2023, organised by the Loveworld Institute of Innovation and technology (LIIT), on October 11, 2023, met the great expectations following the insightful discussions, presentations, and interactions.

These focused on intensifying innovation in the payment industry in driving financial inclusion and ecommerce in Nigeria.

Speakers mounted the podium to discuss sub-themes derived from the central theme “Leveraging the power of contactless payment for financial inclusion”.

In a lead keynote speech, Kari Tukur, Vice president and head of customer solutions, East and West Africa at Mastercard, reemphasized the convergence of fintech and commerce that has ushered in new experiences for the customers.

Tukur explained how fintechs can leverage digital wallets and contactless technology to scale financial inclusion, adding that such innovation will encourage the entrance of more merchants who are seriously supporting the growth of digital payments in Nigeria.

She noted that the utility of digital wallets like person-to-person payments, bill payment, e-commerce promotes financial inclusion.

“Beyond just enabling the tokenization or creation of these digital wallets, we also think about how we are able to enable the openness of that digital wallet within our network , and the larger card network”

“And we make sure we have various ways in which merchants can interact on these networks. Now interactions are happening by QR codes, USSD, NFT”

“What we are looking for is a solution that integrates all these alternative payment methods by a singular token, so that as digital wallets and digital payment solution evolves, they are able to adopt that and respond better to the changing customer behaviour “

“As digital transaction evolves, we cannot ignore the actions of the bad players, so, EFTs, financial institutions are overhauling fraud capability to ensure they are able to protect you from the actions of bad actors”

Speaking on the topic “Enabling the next era of digital commerce – innovations in payments”, Akem Lawal, managing director, Payment Processing and Switching (Interswitch Purepay), said that innovation is a necessity in Africa because most of the problems can be solved by us in ways that nobody else can understand. He laid emphasis on the need to activate innovative approaches in Africa.

According to him, four innovations; open banking, blockchain, tokenization, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, will properly shape the future of payments in the future.

Panel session:

The panel discussion on “Fintech Innovations and Open Banking for Inclusive Financial Services”, opened the eyes of the participants to gaps and opportunities in the sector.

The panel moderated by Peter Oluka, editor of Techeconomy, had Akin Ajayi, Director, Business Development, Fintech & Enablers EEMEA; Ebenezer Akinyemi, Head, Fintech Partnership and Ecosystem; David Adeleke, Co-founder and CEO, Zeeh Africa, as the panelists.

Akinyemi said that the link between open banking and financial inclusion is evident in the Parallex Bank’s operations which has translated in solving the pain points for their customers in Nigeria and diaspora.

According to him, they observed that customers require banking services that are accessible, affordable, and convenient, and have used these information to tailor their innovations towards customer needs.

Akinyemi said that Parallex Bank which started as a microfinance bank and then a commercial bank, in addition to its partnership with Fintechs like Mastercard, Zeeh Africa and Interswitch, has able to aggregate these solutions to be able to satisfy the changing customer needs.

Speaking on how Fintechs can reach the $360 bn credit gap in Africa with open banking, Adeleke said that Open banking enables lenders to make data lending decisions by providing a customer’s banking footprint as opposed to the traditional way of monitoring a customer’s banking transactions for a while before releasing funds.

He noted that he expects to see a thriving middle class through open banking implementation.

“Seeing open banking cutting across so many personal services like personal insurance, pension, universal debit or credit card, will increase the financial ecosystem more accessible.”

Ajayi, who spoke on how banking Verification can be made seamless for the merchants and for the customers, said that fintech innovators will continue to follow the lead of the financial regulators and the technology advancement, until they are convince that the country has reached the point where they can start providing new KYC solutions.

Each member of the panel agreed that future innovations around financial services would be determined majorly by the Customer need.

However, Akinyemi also noted that the regulator and the fintechs should be able to reach a balance to.

He emphasized that all parties play crucial roles to satisfy the Customer.

Oludotun Akinwunmi, the Convener Future of Payments and Commerce Conference, applauded the speakers and participants for their show of commitment to shaping the future of payments and commerce in Nigeria.

“Together, we can harness the potential of contactless payment technology to promote financial inclusion and drive economic growth in our nation”.

The Inaugural edition of Future of Payments and Commerce Conference was sponsored by Parallex Bank, Mastercard, Spectrum Microfinance Bank, Toronet, Tap and Pay, SMEDAN, Zeeh Africa, Refuge Microfinance Bank and Tori Communications.

Techeconomy was the official media partner.

Zoho was voted the Pan African Tech Company of the Year while Parallex Bank was crowned Digital Financial Solutions Provider of the Year while itel was crowned as Best Budget Friendly Phone Brand of the Year.

Declaring the award ceremony open, Femi Pedro, pioneer Banker and former Deputy Governor of Lagos, praised the organiser of the Titans of Tech Africa Award for its consistency over the years.

He noted that in recognising excellence, celebrating commitment and rewarding winners, the Titans of Tech Awards is contributing to efforts at building the nation’s telecommunications industry.

Don Pedro Aganbi, Convener of the Titans of Tech Awards in his welcome address noted that The Titans of Tech Awards is a platform dedicated to recognizing the achievements, successes, and triumphs of key stakeholders across the entire digital technology spectrum and telling the stories. He insisted that awards are a great way to encourage good behaviour, inculcate competitive spirit and spur the industry to greater heights.

Other winners at the high-octane event include VERTIV, Most Innovative Data Centre Cooling Provider of the Year; EKOEXCEL, Most Innovative Digital Learning Platform of The Year; IpNX, Enterprise Business Solutions Provider of the Year; Ethnos, Indigenous ICT Company of the Year, Pioneer Interconnect Operator of The Year and Inlaks, Digital Business Solutions Provider of The Year.

In addition, Zoracom was crowned Digital Transformation Provider Company of The Year; Parallex Bank, Best Customer Centric Bank of The Year; Konne3t, Best ICT Innovation of the Year, Data Protection Compliance Company of the Year, itel P40, Best Smartphone Phone Battery of the Year, Zoho Technologies, Best Tech Team of the Year.

Furthermore, Prof. Umar Dambatta, Pan African Regulator of the Year, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, Data Centre Man of the Year, Ikechukwu Nnamani, Data Centre Personality of the Year, Peter Ejiofor, Cyber Security Personality of the Year, Kehinde Ogundare, Country Manager of the Year, Best Marketing Manager of the Year, Oke Umurhohwo and Reuben Muoka was voted Best Digital Public Relations Communicator of the Year.

States were not left, particularly those actively pushing the implementation of the digital economy. Imo State was voted Most Innovative Digital State of the Year.

This year’s Titans of Tech Merit Awards honourees included Stanley Jacobs, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Financial Service, Ukinedo Dare, Immediate Past Managing Director, Edo State Skills Development Agency and Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Chief Technology Officer, Africa Data Centres.

Titans of Tech Hall of Fame Awards popularly called Nigeria’s Tech Industry Grammy is designed to celebrate Hi-tech most important movers and shakers; pioneers, Innovators, men, women, organisations and institutions who blazed the trail and used ICT to improve the way of life in our society.

It is the recognition of overall excellence, unflinching commitment and a lifetime of efforts in the service of ICT, humanity and Nigeria.

The Titans of Tech Africa Awards is the authoritative yardstick to measure performance in the West African ICT sector. It is also an avenue to influence policy, network and connect with key industry players.