BancABC

BancABC
Type	Private company
Industry	Financial Services
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Harare, Zimbabwe
Key people	Blessing Mudavanhu Mirirai Apollonia Washaya (Company Secretary)
Products	Loans, Investments, Mortgages
Parent	Atlas Mara Limited
Website	www.bancabc.com

BancABC is a financial institution in Zimbabwe wholly owned by Atlas Mara Limited. The bank was initially founded in 1956 as First Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe (“FMBZ”) was by Anglo American Corporation Zimbabwe Limited. However BancABC itself was created in 2000.

ABC Holdings Limited is the parent company of other similar banks operating under the BancABC brand in sub-Saharan Africa countries (Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. ABC has a primary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

Products

Personal Banking

Individual Investment Products
- Education - My Star Fund: This is a flexible education savings product for parents or guardians who want to secure their children's future for any education level (primary school / high school / college / university)
- Customised savings - My Target Fund: This is a flexible medium-term investment savings product. Savings are made towards the purchase of a vehicle, household renovations, building, and paying lobola or for raising capital for a specific project.
- Retirement - Achievers plan: The Achievers Plan is a unit trust investment product whose principal objective is to provide organized retirement savings for employees of companies that do not provide a formalized pension scheme such as most NGOs and SMEs.
- Long-term Wealth Creation: The Wealth Builder product is for those individuals who have excess income and would like that income to be actively managed through a customised portfolio crafted to suit the long-term investment objectives of the individual.
- Equity Funds: Such funds represent ownership or equity in a company. Historically, these funds increase in value over time and have potential to outperform other types of investments over the long term.
- Property Funds: Investments into unitised properties through Property Unit Trusts.
Personal Loans: For individuals
Group Scheme Loans: For company employees. This is a lending arrangement that is entered into between BancABC and a Corporate for the benefit of the employees of the Corporate.
Fixit Accounts: A deposit account comprising a single deposit, for a fixed term, at a guaranteed fixed rate of interest. It can be used for both short- and long-term investment purposes.
Flexi-Current Account.
FlexiSave Savings Account

Business Banking

Business Current Account
Business Term Deposit
Business Loan

Wholesale Banking

Bankers Acceptance (BA): A Bankers Acceptance (BA) is a discount money market instrument issued by the private sector or an individual. It is a bill of exchange drawn on and accepted by a bank and is a negotiable security.
ABC Asset Management: This is a separately licensed and wholly owned subsidiary of African Banking Corporation Holdings Limited. The focus is to actively manage the exposure of its clients' portfolios taking into account, risk tolerance, financial needs, time horizon and other constraints.

Branches

ABC Asset Management
ABC Stockbrokers
BancABC Head Office
Beitbridge Branch
Bindura Branch
Chinhoyi Branch
Chiredzi Branch
Gweru Branch
Heritage Branch
Hwange Branch
Jason Moyo Branch
Kwekwe Branch
Masvingo
Mount Pleasant Branch
Msasa Branch
Mutare Branch
Ngezi Branch
Southerton Branch
Triangle Branch
Victoria Falls Branch
Zvishavane Branch

Background

BancABC itself was created in 2000 through a merger of First Merchant Bank Zimbabwe (FMB), UDC and Bard group of Companies. FMB had previously merged with Heritage Investment Bank, a small Merchant Bank in 1997. Originally, the bank focused exclusively on corporate and wholesale banking.

Douglas Munatsi was CEO of BancABC since formation in 2000 and MD of its predecessors First Merchant Bank and Heritage Investment Bank which he founded. Prior to that served as an executive of the IFC.

In 2008 the bank started to expand into the retail banking space, developing a comprehensive set of retail services including SME and microlending products. This expansion which was funded entirely from internal resources, has accelerated the bank’s growth in recent years.

History

1956: First Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe (“FMBZ”) was established by Anglo American Corporation Zimbabwe Limited
1959: BARD Discount House Limited was established by Anglo American Corporation Zimbabwe Limited to focus on the domestic money market
1995-1997: Heritage Investment Bank Limited (“HIB”) established in Zimbabwe as a boutique Merchant Bank driven by technology and human capital. HIB launched and pioneered a number of innovative products like commercial paper, currency swaps, corporate bonds, municipal and parastatal bonds etc. HIB merged with FMB. Anglo American Corporation Zimbabwe retained 20% of the new entity.
Feb to Mar 2000:Share swap between udc, FMBH and BARD resulting in the creation of African Banking Corporation Holdings Limited (ABCH)
June 2000: Primary listing of ABCH on the Botswana Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
Dec 2000: ulc Botswana credit institution licence transformed into a merchant banking licence
2000 – 2003: Acquisition of holdings in regional ulc credit institution, transformation into merchant banking, Establishment of ABC Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
2006 – 2007: IFC convertible loan of $20m. BIFM Capital long-term loan of BWP250m. NDB medium-term loan of JPY2.356 bn
2008 – 2010: Launch of Retail Project and opening branches
2011: ADC acquisition of 22% of ABCH
2012: Conclusion of rights issue, ADC acquires total of 55% shareholding of ABCH
2014: Atlas Mara completes the acquisition of BancABC and of African Development Corporation (ADC).

Ownership

Atlasmara Limited Logo

ABC Holdings Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Mara Limited. During the third quarter of 2014, Atlas Mara completed the acquisition of BancABC and of African Development Corporation (ADC). Following the transactions, Atlas Mara owns 100 percent in BancABC; 62.25 is direct shareholding and 37.75 percent is indirect shareholding through African Development Corporation (ADC).^[1] In December 2014, a new board of directors and a new team of senior managers began taking over the company, to reflect the new shareholding.^[2]