STANBIC IBTC Bank, a member of the Standard Bank Group of South Africa, has introduced its online banking channel, new Business Online, into the Nigerian market. Standard Bank has been offering online banking to its clients in South Africa and other countries in Africa for over 20 years. In South Africa, Standard Bank has been voted by clients as the leader in online banking for the last 17 years. Stanbic IBTC is bringing this expertise to Nigeria.

New Business Online is an internet-based multi-currency, multi-country, multi-entity online banking channel. It enables clients to make payments to third parties (suppliers, vendors, staff etc), transfer funds between their own accounts and provides them with real-time access to their balances and statements for all accounts, across currencies, and even across countries. It is powered by state-of-the-art technology and adheres to the highest levels of user-friendliness. It is secure and allows multiple signatory authorisations, and it allows clients to set up users and authorisers according to their own segregation of duties. It has a sophisticated built-in messaging and reporting tool and audit trails.

At a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, said, \"the deployment of this online banking channel is in line with the bank\'s strategic focus of strengthening its universal banking franchise.\"

Andrew Mashanda, Head, Transactional Products and Services, Stanbic IBTC Bank, further stated that \"the major strength of our new online banking channel is the convenience and ease with which customers can transfer funds and view statements in the comfort of their offices or homes.\" He also mentioned that this channel is one of the safest methods of transferring funds, as it eliminates the risk associated with carrying large sums of cash from place to place or the inconvenience of writing cheques and expecting confirmation of payments made.

The Standard Bank Group, which has a controlling stake of 50.1 per cent in Stanbic IBTC, has been in business for 146 years and is Africa\'s largest banking group ranked by assets and earnings. As at June 30, 2008, the group had total assets of over US$174 billion, employing over 48,000 people worldwide, a network in 18 African countries and 20 countries outside of Africa including the key financial centres of Europe, United States and Asia.

Stanbic IBTC is a full service universal bank with a clear focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth management - leveraging on its industry expertise and international presence. The bank has always been highly rated and currently has a long term rating of AAA by Fitch. -ngrguardiannews