By Prince Okafor

LAGOS—The management of SunTrust Bank of Nigeria, yesterday, dismissed insinuations that it refused to pay National Assembly, NASS, account holders.

The bank’s reaction came against the backdrop of last Tuesday’s protest by NASS staff who blamed the death of their colleague on the delay in the movement of salary to Sun Trust Bank by NASS management.

NASS workers had alleged that their salaries were always delayed since the bank started handling disbursement.

However, Chief Finance and Risk Officer, SunTrust Bank, Mr. Usman Abdulqadir, told newsmen at a briefing, yesterday, that the bank has executed all the mandates given it by NASS management to pay its staff.

SENATE CHAMBER

He said:  “As bankers to some of the NASS accounts, the bank has received the mandate to make payments to various beneficiaries and those payments have since been relayed, some via REMITA, to the relevant banks.

“We advise that any persons who are yet to receive payments executed by us should have first checked with his/her bankers to trace where such payments are held. We categorically restate that we do not fail to honour any obligation to our clients.”

Abdulqadir, who commiserated with the family of the deceased, assured that the bank was poised to create value for its customers by leveraging on its competencies and a team of highly motivated staff.

“We strive to create the best outcomes for our clients and customers with financial ingenuity that leads to solutions that are simple, creative and responsible.

‘’The bank focuses its lending activities on SME Finance, Retail/Consumer Banking, and Medium to large Corporate Finance and explores other specialized Development/Infrastructure financing activities.

“We are currently the only bank in Nigeria focused on financial inclusion.”

As Nigeria’s first FinTech (Financial Technology) bank, we encourage all our customers to complete their financial transactions using electronic means.

‘’There is absolutely no need for any bank customer to visit their bank branch just to make a transaction,” he added.