Hope Psbank, Nigeria’s premier digital-first bank and a subsidiary of Unified Payments, has announced key appointments for the bank.
The board has approved the appointments of Shehu Abubakar as chairman and Ayotunde Kuponiyi as managing director. The list of directors includes Agada Apochi, Ochanya DanUgo, Festus Eze Ikediasor, Ano Anyanwu and Nana Fatima Mede, according to a press statement signed by Cletus Igah, Head, Corporate Services, Hope Psbank. While Mede and Anyanwu are independent directors, Apochi, Ikediasor and Dan-Ugo are non-executive directors.
Abubakar has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry during which time he held strategic positions in different banks. He worked at different times in International Merchant Bank, FSB International Bank, Fidelity Bank and Keystone Bank, where he retired as an executive director.
Until he was appointed the managing director of Hope Psbank, Kuponiyi held various leadership roles in both the banking and telecoms industries where he was director, Telebanking, Globacom Nigeria, and the head of the Consumer Distribution Department in Ecobank Nigeria.
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At Ecobank Nigeria, he was the team lead of the Consumer Bank implementation which was an aspect of the upgrade project of the bank’s core banking application across 33 countries in Africa. At Globacom, he was responsible for launching the first Mobile Money Service, Glo Txtcash, in Nigeria, in partnership with UBA Plc and Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Kuponiyi, who obtained academic degrees from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, and University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, has attended several courses and programmes both locally and abroad.
Currently, he serves as the chairman of the Mobile Payment Scheme Board, having been appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in recognition of his role in advancing and strengthening alternative payment platforms in the country.
He is a member of major industry boards among which are Payment Systems Strategy Board and the Payment Infrastructure Coordinating Committee in Nigeria. He is also a member of the Governing Board of the Committee of e-banking Industry Heads (CEBIH). He is expected to bring to bear his robust wealth of experience in the banking and Telecommunication sectors in his new role.
Hope Psbank (Hope Payment Service Bank Limited) was incorporated in September 2019 to leverage digital technologies to deliver inclusive financial services. The company seeks to provide the 4As – Accessibility, Affordability, Availability and Awareness of digital financial services.
