Artificial intelligence, cyber threats and rapidly changing customer expectations are reshaping Nigeria’s banking industry, with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria charging newly inducted professionals to combine technological skills with strong ethical standards.
The institute gave the warning on Saturday in Lagos at its 2026 Stream II Chartered Banker Induction and Prize Awards Ceremony, where 2,178 new banking professionals were admitted.
The President and Chairman of Council of CIBN, Dr Dele Alabi, said the new chartered bankers were entering an industry facing significant technological, economic and geopolitical disruptions.
He said the institute was reviewing its professional syllabus to ensure that its training remained relevant to emerging developments in banking and financial services.
“We want to build ready-made bankers who will continuously add value to the various institutions where they work,” Alabi said.
He said the revised training would form part of CIBN’s IMPACT vision, which focuses on professionalism, ethical conduct, accountability, skills development, technology, automation, innovation and financial performance.
Alabi urged the new professionals to embrace artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies while understanding the risks associated with their use.
He also stressed that technological advancement could not replace the need for integrity in an industry built around public trust.
“Banking is all about trust, integrity, great character, professionalism and ethics,” he said.
The 2,178 inductees entered the profession through five pathways, comprising 1,439 through the Standard Chartered Banker (ACIB) Route, 222 through the Lagos Business School/Chartered Banker Route, 500 Microfinance Certified Bankers, 14 through the MSc/Chartered Banker Route and three through the Chartered Banker/MBA route of Bangor University.
Guest speaker and Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria, Olusegun Alebiosu, said disruption had become a permanent feature of the banking environment.
He identified technology, inflation, cyber threats, global uncertainty and changing customer expectations as factors that would increasingly shape the work of banking professionals.
According to Alebiosu, customers now expect financial institutions to deliver speed, convenience, security and personalised services, while businesses increasingly demand faster decisions.
He said innovation should therefore extend beyond the introduction of digital applications to finding safer, faster and easier ways to solve customers’ problems.
“Rules provide a minimum standard; our character must take us further. Technology and markets will change, but integrity must not,” he said.
Alebiosu urged the inductees to view their qualification as a commitment to competence, professionalism and integrity, rather than simply another career credential.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of CIBN, Akin Morakinyo, similarly challenged the new bankers to make trust and honesty central to their professional conduct.
“Our mantra is trust and honesty. We expect the chartered bankers to go into the marketplace to display and demonstrate that attribute of trust and honesty in all that they do,” Morakinyo said.
Also speaking, Inyang Ani, who represented the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc, Abubakar Minjibr, said digitalisation had made cybersecurity inseparable from banking.
Ani said banks must protect customers’ identities, information and transactions, while security should be incorporated into financial systems from the beginning.
He noted that the industry had evolved from conventional banking halls to ATMs, internet and mobile banking, USSD, agency banking and fintech platforms, fundamentally changing how customers interact with financial institutions.
“The banker of yesterday protected transactions, the banker of today manages relationships, but the banker of tomorrow must protect trust, create value and shape the future,” he said.
The ceremony was themed “The Future-Ready Banker: Leadership, Innovation and Ethics in a Disruptive Global Economy.”
It also featured awards for outstanding students in areas including fintech, global finance, corporate financial services, and bank management and strategy.
The best student in applied banking received a N1 million cash prize, while other top-performing graduates received plaques.
The event also included the induction of Microfinance Certified Bankers and participation by delegates from other African countries.
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