₦airaland Forum

Wema Bank is the longest surviving indigenous bank in Nigeria. The bank was founded 77 years ago by Late Chief Mattew Adekoya Agbonmagbe Okupe.

It didn't start as a bank at first though. Chief Mattew started out as a famous government-approved money lender before he established the bank. He started the bank in May 1945 after his business expanded beyond the status of a cottage money lender.

After obtaining a banking license, Chief Mattew registered the Wema bank we know today as "Agbonmagbe bank". The word Agbonmagbe loosely translates as "the source that never dry."

As the first indigenous bank in Nigeria , Agbonmagbe bank had branches in Ebute meta, Mushin, Ifo, Sagamu,Ago Iwoye, Ijebu igbo and zaria . Agbonmagbe bank became Wema bank through the acquisition by the Wema board in 1969.

18 years later in 1987, the bank went public as Wema Bank plc. Chief Mattew Agbonmagbe Okupe died November 1 ,1984 at the age of 86 years . He had 10 wives and 40 children.

The Okupe family left behind by the founder no longer hold the title as the biggest shareholder of the bank rather the biggest shareholder of Wema bank today is renowned Nigerian gambling magnate and the founder of Baba Ijebu, Kessington Adebutu who holds a significant 28.09-percent stake in Wema Bank through Neemtree Limited, a special purpose vehicle established in 2013 for targeted investments.

brain54:
Oldest bank in Nigeria is first bank...

Oldest indegenous is wema.

Wema bank was the first commercial bank account I operated(my first ever was a micro finance bank)

It was my school account.

I hated the bank so much because of their archaic ways of transaction.

I later abandoned the account when other new generation banks started coming to the vicinity of my school. I still have some money abandoned in that account sef, although not much. (maybe one day I will walk in and request to close the account. Even though I can't remember the account number again. Maybe the money would have yielded a sizable interest . Very unlikely though)

I don't know if they changed or modernized their banking systems. As I can't remember using that bank ever since. But I just have the impression and bias they haven't.

Ironically, I have hardly had any transaction carried out with the bank since then.

And when I pass through any branch the thought that comes to my mind is "people still use this bank"?

I guess they do!

Zonefree:
Unnecessary shalaye.

Zonefree:
Unnecessary shalaye.

brain54:
Oldest bank in Nigeria is first bank...

Oldest indegenous is wema.

Wema bank was the first commercial bank account I operated(my first ever was a micro finance bank)

It was my school account.

I hated the bank so much because of their archaic ways of transaction.

I later abandoned the account when other new generation banks started coming to the vicinity of my school. I still have some money abandoned in that account sef, although not much. (maybe one day I will walk in and request to close the account. Even though I can't remember the account number again. Maybe the money would have yielded a sizable interest . Very unlikely though)

I don't know if they changed or modernized their banking systems. As I can't remember using that bank ever since. But I just have the impression and bias they haven't.

Ironically, I have hardly had any transaction carried out with the bank since then.

And when I pass through any branch the thought that comes to my mind is "people still use this bank"?

I guess they do!

Maj196:
Always resist the urge to shalaye

brain54:
Oldest bank in Nigeria is first bank...

Oldest indegenous is wema.

Wema bank was the first commercial bank account I operated(my first ever was a micro finance bank)

It was my school account.

I hated the bank so much because of their archaic ways of transaction.

I later abandoned the account when other new generation banks started coming to the vicinity of my school. I still have some money abandoned in that account sef, although not much. (maybe one day I will walk in and request to close the account. Even though I can't remember the account number again. Maybe the money would have yielded a sizable interest . Very unlikely though)

I don't know if they changed or modernized their banking systems. As I can't remember using that bank ever since. But I just have the impression and bias they haven't.

Ironically, I have hardly had any transaction carried out with the bank since then.

And when I pass through any branch the thought that comes to my mind is "people still use this bank"?

I guess they do!

brain54:
Oldest bank in Nigeria is first bank...

Oldest indegenous is wema.
Wema bank was the first commercial bank account I operated.
I hated the bank so much because of their archaic ways of transaction.

And when I pass through any branch the thought that comes to my mind is "people still use this bank"?

I guess they do!