Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 19, 2014 — 23
Banking & Finance Heritage Bank's Transparent MasterCard offers innovative e-payment services BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE
H
ERITAGE Bank introduced the first transparent MasterCard in Nigeria to demonstrate its commitment to offer innovative e-payment services to its customers. Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Herit-
age Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo stated this, adding that the Heritage Bank Transparent MasterCard is born out of the bank’s commitment to offer innovative banking services in a more convenient and efficient way to customers. Sekibo said, “This is the philosophy behind our e-payment services. There is more to e-payment than Nigerians are
currently enjoying. We are determined to take Nigerians to new heights of e-payment services that deliver unparalleled convenience and security. That is why we introduced the first transparent MasterCard in Nigeria.” Group Head, e-Bank, Heritage Bank, Mr. Tobe Nnadozie said that the Heritage Bank Transparent MasterCard is avail-
able to new and existing customers of the bank. “To own a Heritage Bank Transparent MasterCard is easy,” he said, adding that the card comes with no additional cost beyond the cost of applying for the average MasterCard. Nnadozie further said, “The Heritage Bank Transparent MasterCard distinguishes our customers. It gives them the prestige and excitement of being part of innovation which is what the card represents. “The youths as well as adults will find it very attractive. Definitely you will like something that you will see through and something very presentable. It is for everybody. There are millions of people out there yearning for something different, something that would make them stand
out from others. They will definitely find the Heritage Bank Transparent MasterCard attractive and embrace it.” Speaking further, he said, the Transparent MasterCard is another reason to bank with Heritage Bank. “Heritage Bank is the bank for the future, our style is quite different and we cater for all, we are not just looking at some segments. So we want everybody to come, whether old, high class, young, the middle class, we cater for everyone. “Most banks practice what we call traditional banking and that is what our parents are used to. We cannot leave these people behind; we need to cater for them. We look at the high network customers whom we refer to as the Ivory banking, we also cater for them. There is
the new generation which are particularly the youths of these days, the likes of us who like to do banking on the move, people who don’t see reasons to enter the bank before carrying out transactions. Nigerians want to sit on the Facebook or internet and do their banking services. That is the reasoning of the youths of these days. We try to cater for them. That’s what’s behind our e-banking offerings. We call it innovation, doing something differently and catering for all these people.“In addition to these, we are saying to our customers, we are offering the Transparent MasterCard to show that we offer transparent services, transparent charges and all that, and it is to show you that in Heritage Bank, nothing is hidden.”
Oil majors fleece Nigeria with inflated project costs Continues from Page 19 the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime sought to review the sharing formula, saying that operators could no longer take 100 per cent of costs before sharing profit, as there was very little left afterwards. Rising costs and sharing formula is also behind the industry reforms, which started during the Obasanjo regime, culminating in the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, still before the National Assembly more than 10 years after. While awaiting the passage of the PIB, the NNPC has become stricter in its budget approvals in order to cut down costs, even in the face of delayed project cycles to get the IOCs to be more prudent in their proposals. Indeed, Total’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Christophe de Margerie, in an interview with Bloomberg TV in January, had also complained that “Costs are becoming too high.” He had noted that “Our industry is facing a huge amount of cost pressure. More is being spent to produce less. Our clients are seeing the rate of return on capital dropping and they ’re being challenged by investors who want them to be more disciplined.”
Delivery delay With regard to the delay in delivery, Ogan said this was as a result of a protracted court case. He said that “as a result of a court injunction put in place by an aggrieved party, no work took place for four years, which meant that the project that should have gone into production in 2011, did not award most of the contracts till 2011. “This delay and the upswing in contractor pricing meant that the cost of the project has increased.” He insisted that the project had advanced substantially, as the following had been completed: The living quarters platform, substantially built in Nigeria was installed in December 2013, the new production topside platform (OFP 2) with a weight of 16,000 tons was installed on January 07, 2014. The two bridges linking the existing production platform (OFP1) to the new production platform (OFP2) and the new OFP2 to the living quarters platform, were installed on April 07, 2014. All new pipelines, including the new 70km gas export line, were laid by April 25, 2014. Contractors for the project
Total, which blamed contractors for the escalating costs, did not identify them. However, Offshore-technology.com listed some of the contractors for the Ofon 2 project to include: Technip - a turnkey contract for supplying topsides of the Ofon 2 fixed platform (OFP2), in May 2007. The scope of works will include loadout and transportation of the 16,000t topsides from South Korea to the field, engineering, supply and installation of the equipment through Unideck floatover method. Nigerdock, an engineering and construction firm in Nigeria, started construction of the Ofon 2 platforms in March 2012. In October 2011, Saipem was awarded the contract to provide EPC, fabrication and installation of the OFP2 jacket and living quarter platform for phase 2. Fabrication of the 900m, 1,970t jacket and 4,500t piles will take place in Rumuolumeni Yard in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The vessel, Saipem 3000, will provide offshore activities when the project comes on line. The EPC and commissioning contract for the phase 2 was Continues on Page 33