FMB, Opportunity Bank of Malawi merger approved

FMB Bank has confirmed that it has received all regulatory approvals to proceed with its acquisition and merger of Opportunity Bank of Malawi (OBM). This follows an agreement reached in June between FMB and OBM in which FMB acquired 100 percent ownership of the micro-lending institution.

According to a statement from the bank, this comes after FMB’s parent company, FMB Capital Holdings (FMBCH) plc, completed its acquisition of Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe.

This means over 400,000 OBM customers will soon be integrated into FMB as OBM ceases operations.

“With all approvals now in place, we will shortly commence the process of integrating the operations of both banks FMB Group Managing Director, Dheeraj Dikshit, said.

“Our operating systems are extremely robust, reliable and adaptable and we have taken every step to ensure that the integration process is seamless with little to no disruption to normal services for both OBM and FMB customers.”

In addition to boosting its customer base, the acquisition will also add another eight branches to FMB’s network.

FMB Director, Hitesh Anadkat, said this is an exciting development for the bank.

“We welcome our new customers to FMB. We look forward to continuing the work done by OBM in promoting financial inclusion. At the same time, we believe that this acquisition will benefit our new customers by giving them access to a broad range of financial products, committed customer service and an advanced operating infrastructure,” Anadkat said.

He said that FMBCH’s recent acquisitions, both here in Malawi and in Zimbabwe, are directly in line with the company’s regional expansion strategy and that the bank’s stakeholders stand to benefit.

The Bank said that the actual migration of OBM customer accounts to FMB’s operating system will take place from November 3 and that OBM customers will have access to their new FMB accounts by November 6.

FMB is registered as a commercial bank under the Banking Act 2010. FMBCH is a public limited liability company incorporated in Mauritius and is listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange.

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