First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, has successfully recertified to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 3.2, having been one of the first top-tier banks in Nigeria to obtain the PCI DSS certification in 2014. This recertification reaffirms the Bank’s leading position in the payment card industry in Nigeria. Recently, FirstBank was named the first financial institution in Nigeria and the West-Africa sub-region to issue 10 million cards to customers across the country. This makes FirstBank the second bank in Africa to achieve this feat. With this milestone, the Bank has maintained a 95% active card ratio and currently processes about 33% of card transactions in the entire banking industry.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure companies that process, store or transmit credit/debit card information, maintain a secure environment thereby guaranteeing the protection of cardholder data throughout the transaction process. The award of this certificate is a strong indicator that FirstBank consistently has its customers’ interest at the core of its business operations, is committed to securing customer information as well as maintaining a safe and secure environment for customer transactions. Consequently, the Bank presently has a card transaction volume of over 2700 per minute with one in every three card transactions being a FirstBank card.

According to the MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and Subsidiaries, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Bank’s recertification is a testament to the Bank’s high level operational standards and its strict adherence to international security standards and other regulations. ”In an era of increasing sophisticated attacks on systems; adhering to the PCI DSS represents an organisation’s best protection against cybercrime. FirstBank remains committed to excellent information security management and would continue to apply the PCI DSS in its business practices” he further stated.

It is worthy of note that FirstBank recently won three Interswitch awards in Electronic Payment as the fastest Mobile Penetration Bank across Africa, the Highest Card Transacting Bank and the Highest Issuer of Verve Cards. These are clear indications that the giant strides taken by the Sub-Saharan leading bank brand towards fostering its banking technologies are well aligned to the fast-paced technological advancement in today’s ever evolving financial ecosystem.