There are some banks in Nigeria that no longer exist due to various reasons like rebranding, acquisition by other banks or entities, liquidation, etc. Some had their licenses revoked and were either taken over by an existing bank or took on a new name completely.

Below are a few examples of Nigerian banks that no longer exist and had their names changed:

Afribank Nigeria Plc

Afribank was one of Nigeria’s oldest banks. Established in 1959 by French investors, it was eventually taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in 2011. Prior to when it was taken over, Afribank operated over 250 branches across Nigeria until it ran into financial troubles and its license was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2011. It was then rebranded as Mainstreet Bank Limited, which was later acquired by Skye Bank (now Polaris Bank) in 2014.

Bank PHB

Formerly known as Platinum Habib Bank, Bank PHB was once a commercial bank in Nigeria and the fifth largest financial service provider at the time. Founded in 2005, its license was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in 2011 because it couldn’t meet up with the recapitalisation deadline as instructed by CBN. It is now known as Keystone Bank Limited.

Spring Bank

Spring Bank – which was formed by the merger of six other financial institutions – was another Nigerian commercial bank that faced difficulties and had its licence revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009. Its assets and liabilities were later acquired by the newly established Enterprise Bank Limited in 2012 and in 2014 Heritage Bank acquired 100% shares of Enterprise Bank Limited and in January 2015, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria officially transferred ownership of Enterprise Bank Ltd to Heritage Bank Plc.

Intercontinental Bank

Founded in 1989, Intercontinental Bank was one of Nigeria’s prominent commercial banks that was taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2011. Subsequently, its operations were acquired by Access Bank, and since then it ceased to exist as a separate entity.

Oceanic Bank

Oceanic Bank was founded in 1990 by the Ibru family until it faced financial challenges and was taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2011. It was eventually acquired by Ecobank that same year and its operations were integrated into Ecobank Nigeria.

Skye Bank

Skye Bank, now known as Polaris Bank was taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria and withdrew its operating license in 2018.

Diamond bank

Diamond bank which was founded in 1990 and had its headquarters situated in Lagos State was one of Nigeria’s prominent banks at the time but was acquired by Access bank in 2018 and announced its full merger in 2019 to enable them build a new entity. (The Nation)

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