Founded three decades ago by a group of young, vibrant and dynamic professionals determined to transform traditional banking, Guaranty Trust has been on a mission to make financial services accessible to all Africans in ways that truly serve people’s needs and help businesses thrive. Headquartered in Lagos, Guaranty Trust has banking subsidiaries in Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. The Bank currently employs over 12,000 professionals and has Total assets and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦4.993trillion and ₦837.2billion respectively.
Since commencing operations in February 1991, Guaranty Trust has maintained an unbroken streak of year-on-year growth and a consistent lead in driving the digitization of financial services in Nigeria thanks to its strong service culture, efficient management, world-class corporate governance standards and bias for innovation.
At the end of 2020, alongside leading the industry in innovation and service delivery, Guaranty Trust was the most profitable banking group in Nigeria with best in class Return on Equity and other key financial metrics. In April 2021, the reorganization of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to a financial holding company, Guaranty Trust Group Holding Company Plc (GTCo Plc), was completed as part of the company's strategy to position for future growth and deliver benefits beyond banking to the people, communities and businesses who depend on the value we create to thrive.
Explore Our History
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First Move of ‘the Last Decade’
1990
Guaranty Trust is founded
Guaranty Trust received approval for its banking license from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and is incorporated as a Limited Liability Company. Among its early founders are Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun who went on to serve as the first MD and DMD respectively. Within a month, the bank held its first board meeting and a few months after, skeletal banking operations began.
1991
First Banking Operation at its head office known as the 'Plaza'
Guaranty Trust commenced formal banking operations at its head office known as 'the Plaza' and also established its ethical stance by declaring an operating loss for the fiscal year after just six months of operations. The bank held its second Annual General Meeting and also adopted the concept of Total Quality Management in driving its operations.
1992
Guaranty Trust Goes Upcountry
The Bank opened branches in Ikeja, Broad Street (both in Lagos) and its first upcountry branch in Kano. At the end of the year, Guaranty Trust Bank reported a profit of ₦52 million while its balance sheet grew to ₦1.050 billion.
1993
Guaranty Trust Records Superb Performance
Port-Harcourt branch began operations in June. By November, the Bank’s balance sheet had grown substantially to over N2.3 billion.
1994
Guaranty Trust Moves HQ To Plural House
Mid-way into the financial year, the Bank moved into its new head office at Plural House, Plot 1669, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
First Board Meeting at the new head office, the 'Plural' house.
1995
The Bank held its first Board meeting at the new head office, the Plural house. At this meeting, Chief JK Agbaje gave notice of his retirement as Chairman of the board. Chief Agbaje was a highly respected professional whose presence imbued the nascent Guaranty Trust team with even more credibility.
1996
First Nigerian Financial Institution to attain a ₦1 Billion profit figure
The bank recorded a PBT of N1.01 billion, becoming the first financial institution wholly owned by Nigerians to attain a ₦1 Billion profit figure.
1997
Guaranty Trust Wins Nigerian Stock Exchange President’s Award
The bank became a Public Limited Company on the 2nd April; while its shares got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on 9th September, within months of being listed, Guaranty Trust won the Nigerian Stock Exchange's Merit Award.
1998
Project Era
A new banking software “Banking Automated System for Integrated Services (BASIS) is implemented and the details of Project Era+, a strategic development Plan were completed.
New Milestones for a new Millenium
2001
Received Universal Banking License by the CBN.
Guaranty Trust became the first Nigerian-owned bank to record N2 Billion in Profit Before Tax and was issued with a universal banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
2002
First Nigerian Bank with African Subsidiaries
The bank became the first Nigerian bank to establish subsidiaries in other West African Economies; Gambia and Sierra Leone.
2003
Guaranty Trust Only Nigerian Bank in $460m Bonny Gas Project
Guaranty Trust was the only Nigerian bank to participate in a $460 million project financing agreement with the Bonny Gas Transport Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG).
2004
Guaranty Trust Records 211% Subscription with Investors
Guaranty Trust’s N10.6 billion public offer (PO) recorded a 211% subscription amounting to an N23 billion investment in the bank. The bank also led the arrangement of a $200 million syndicated facility between 15 local and foreign banks for MTN Nigeria.
2005
Guaranty Trust launches new logo
Guaranty Trust launched a new logo as a precursor to the relaunch of its retail banking franchise and also secured approvals from the Central Banks of Ghana and Nigeria to open a subsidiary in Ghana. The bank also installed its first Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and grew the network to 50 by the end of the year.
2005
Guaranty Trust Wins This Day 'Bank of The Year' Award
The bank won ThisDay “Bank of the Year” award for excellent corporate and operational performance. Fitch, a leading international rating agency assigned a double-A minus (AA-) rating to the bank. This is the highest rating ever received by any Nigerian or West-African-based bank.
2006
Guaranty Trust Receives BB-risk rating from Standard & Poor’s
The bank received a BB-risk rating from Standard & Poor’s, the highest rating for any Nigerian Bank. The bank was also conferred with an ISO 9001/2000 certification by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria in recognition of quality management systems and conformity with global best practices.
2006
Guaranty Trust Launches GT Connect
Aimed at providing a fully interactive self-service contact centre for its clients, GT Connect was created. At the time, it was the first banking contact centre in the West African sub-region.
2007
Guaranty Trust becomes first Nigerian bank to be listed on the London Stock Exchange
In 2007, Guaranty Trust became the first Nigerian bank to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the first to dual list on an international exchange, and the first Nigerian company to raise international capital using listed Global Depositary Receipts. Since its listing on the LSE, Guaranty Trust has placed a private Eurobond issue on the international capital markets, the first Nigerian company to do so, offered the first-ever non-sovereign bond to the international community, and emerged the first Nigerian Bank to fully implement all ISO certifications.
2007
"Deal of the Year"... Guaranty Trust Issues $350 million Eurobond
In 2007, Guaranty Trust issued a $350 million Eurobond, the first of its kind by any financial institution in West Africa. The issue was voted the “Deal of the Year” for Nigeria by the Banker Magazine. Guaranty Trust also partnered BNP Paribas and other international banks to syndicate a $200 million facility for Afren Plc, being the only Nigerian participating in the syndication. By the end of the year, it was voted the most respected company in Nigeria in a Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and BusinessDay Newspaper.
2008
Guaranty Trust Clinches "the Transaction of the Year" Award
Guaranty Trust clinched the “Transaction of the Year” award at the 2008 ThisDay awards, in recognition of its $750 million Global Depository Receipt Offering in 2007.
Guaranty Trust also won the Nigerian Stock Exchange President’s Merit Award for the seventh time and was also recognized as one of Nigeria’s super brands by Superbrands Limited, the world’s leading independent brand arbiter with offices in 73 countries worldwide.
2009
Guaranty Trust Sponsors Swiss Red Cross Charity Ball
Guaranty Trust sponsored the 2009 Swiss Red Cross Charity Ball, a humanitarian organization which provides an avenue to raise funds for welfare initiatives across the globe. The Bank still actively participates in the annual fund raising event, where funds raised are used to ensure continuation of efforts in the areas of healthcare, reconstruction and disaster relief and preparedness for the victims of forgotten Disasters.
2010
Guaranty Trust Celebrates 20th Anniversary
To celebrate Guaranty Trust’s 20th anniversary, NIPOST (Nigerian Postal Service) launched a set of postage stamps, making it the first time a corporate organisation received such recognition in Nigeria.
A decade on, Guaranty Trust continues to set the pace in growth, delivering N1.305trillion in cumulative profits, growing total assets by at least 12.07% annually and expanding total equity by an average of 13.46% per annum. Today, Guaranty Trust continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Banking industry in terms of all Financial Ratios with Return on Equity (ROAE) of 26.0%, Return on Assets (ROAA) of 4.3%, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 26.1% and Cost to Income ratio of 42.6%.
Building Nigeria's Best Retail Bank
2011
Guaranty Trust Launches US$500m Eurobond
Guaranty Trust became the first in sub-Saharan Africa (outside South Africa) to launch a non-sovereign benchmark Eurobond worth US$500m. Launched in May 2011, the $500 million Eurobond represented the first benchmark Eurobond without a sovereign guarantee or credit enhancement from any international financial institution. In February 2016, the bank successfully issued a Cash Tender Offer to repurchase any and all the outstanding $500 million 7.5% Eurobond Notes due May 2016 as part of its effective liability management strategy.
2012
Guaranty Trust Creates NdaniTV
Guaranty Trust launches NdaniTV, the continent’s premier online media platform for original African entertainment. Ndani means ‘inside’ in Swahili, and that represents the platform’s core proposition: to take you inside Africa. Since its launch, NdaniTV has been at the cutting edge of online African content with hit shows such as Gidi Up, The Juice, Skinny Girl In Transit, as well as many others. The online platform showcases the best of African art, fashion and film with spectacular visuals and unique and compelling stories for Africans in Africa, the Diaspora, and across the world.
2013
Guaranty Trust Starts Operation in East Africa
Guaranty Trust enters Eastern Africa with a US$100 million acquisition of 70 percent shareholding of Fina Bank Group with Fina Bank Group changing its name to Guaranty Trust as a result of the acquisition. This expanded Guaranty Trust's footprints to Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
2013
Guaranty Trust Wins African Bank of the Year
Guaranty Trust is named as the African Bank of the year by the African Banker Magazine, the only pan-African magazine dedicated to banking on the continent, and held annually to recognise banks that have made impact on the continent or within the sub region.
2014
Guaranty Trust Launches GTExpress
Guaranty Trust launches a banking service platform, GTExpress, in a bid to widen its reach. GT Express is dedicated to providing services for account opening, cash deposit, and withdrawal through Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, customer inquiries, bill payment, and funds transfer in a cost-efficient manner through the use of non-banking retail outlets.
2015
Guaranty Trust Launches Over $15M SMEs Development Scheme
Guaranty Trust launches a $15.2m scheme designed to boost financing for business start-ups and development projects in Nigeria. The bank recognizes that the empowerment of SMEs remains pivotal to the sustenance of growth and development in emerging economies across the world. Although the sector can be crucial to the economic make-up of the country, it contributes little to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
2015
Guaranty Trust Empowers Female Entrepreneurs in Africa Through Its SME Market Hub
The SME Market Hub initiative by Guaranty Trust is geared towards shining a spotlight on women who are driving Africa’s growth through leadership, commerce, and innovation by providing a veritable platform for young female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses across Africa and compete for US$10,000 in cash prizes, direct access to investors and international media exposure. SME businesses listed on the Guaranty Trust SME MarketHub can also take advantage of the “She Hive”, a one-week training program sponsored by the SME MarketHub of the Bank to train small business owners on capacity building, business ethics, and global best practices.
2016
737, Nigeria's Leading USSD Service, Grows to a full Banking Platform
A year after launching a one-click top-up service that allowed customers to buy airtime on their mobile phones directly from their accounts, Guaranty Trust expanded the 737 USSD Service to offer its full suite of banking products and services. By simply dialling *737# from their mobile phones, customers can transfer money, check account balances, get loans instantly and do so much more. At the end of 2020, the 737 USSD platform accounted for more than N3.8trillion in transaction volume and was used over 776 million times.
2016
Guaranty Trust Introduces Food and Drink Festival
Created in 2016, the Guaranty Trust Food and Drink Festival has become the premier culinary event in Africa, bringing together tens of thousands of people from across the continent and beyond to support and celebrate Nigeria’s vibrant and burgeoning small businesses in the food retail sector. In its first four editions, the event has hosted more than 750,000 people, featured dozens of entrepreneurial masterclasses by international chefs and food business experts, and launched or propelled the businesses of hundreds of entrepreneurs in the food retail industry.
2016
Guaranty Trust Debuts Africa's Finest Fashion Weekend
Since 2016, the Guaranty Trust Fashion Weekend has become the biggest fashion experience in Africa, drawing over 250,000 attendees annually and featuring renowned industry experts such as style connoisseur Dapper Dan, Burak Cakmak of Parsons School of Design, Roksanda Ilincic, Make-Up extraordinaire Sir John, Stylist to the stars Law Roach, Vanessa Kingori MBE, Jay Alexander, Nicholas Kirkwood, Jay Manuel, Huishan Zhang, Adesuwa Aighewi and several others. Geared towards Promoting Enterprise, the Fashion Weekend is one of Guaranty Trust’s social initiatives aimed at offering small businesses real commercial opportunities and empowering them with the expertise, networks and resources to realize the full potential of their businesses.
2016
Guaranty Trust Creates ART635, Virtual Arts Gallery
The ART635 virtual arts gallery was launched to reignite interest in African art and drive the growth and development of the local art industry. Arts is one of the four pillars of Guaranty Trust’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy and the Bank’s support for Arts over the years ranges from collecting art work from Nigerian artists, to partnering with Tate and other Art institutions to promote the value of African Art in Africa and the international markets through project-lead initiatives.
2017
Guaranty Trust Hits ₦200bn in Profits
In the released audited financial results to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges, profit before tax stood at ₦200.2billion, representing a growth of 21.3% over ₦165.1billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2016. While gross earnings for the year grew by 1.1% to ₦419.2billion from ₦414.6billion reported in December 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues. The results show a positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria.
2017
Guaranty Trust Launches GTWorld, Nigeria’s First Fully Biometric Mobile Banking App
GTWorld empowers customers like never before to make payments and access in-branch services swiftly and seamlessly without going to a branch.The Guaranty Trust App features biometric authentication, such as facial recognition and fingerprint, which recognizes a customer and adapts to how and when they want to bank. The Mobile banking app also includes a seamless switch to GAPS-Lite, the online banking platform for small businesses which offers a flexible and secure channel to make payments and collections anywhere in the world.
2018
Guaranty Trust Sponsors Lagos International Polo Tournament
Guaranty Trust put its weight behind the Lagos International Polo Tournament as the headline sponsor of the competition. The tournament has played host to His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, among other globally recognised personalities.
2019
Guaranty Trust Sets Record in CBN E-Payments Awards
Guaranty Trust continued its dominance of Nigeria's most qualitative digital financial service awards for the fourth year in a row, winning eight of the twelve honours available to Banks in the 2019 edition of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) Efficiency Awards. Organized to celebrate financial institutions at the forefront of driving electronic payment in Nigeria, the CBN EPIS Awards are based on objective analysis of all E-payments data collated by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) over a full calendar year. With eight awards, Guaranty Trust won awards for efficiency and excellent service delivery in virtually every E-payment channel and took home the highest number of awards presented to any financial institutions to date.
2019
Guaranty Trust Partners DBN to Develop SMEs
Guaranty Trust works with the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to disburse N25billion funding to entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. The funding is the single largest disbursement by the DBN to any financial Institution in Nigeria since it commenced operations.
2019
Guaranty Trust Builds Nigeria’s First Digital Play Centre for Children
Located in Lekki, Lagos State, the Guaranty Trust Play Centre is equipped with a wide range of interactive games that will give kids a fun and immersive digital experience whilst aiding their mental and intellectual development. Some of the features of the Play Centre include Sketch Town, where kids can design cars, launch rockets, and bring all their sketches to life. At the playground, children can also use the wide range of bricks available to build whatever excites their curiosity and also express themselves creatively by scribbling, writing and drawing on a digital chalkboard.
Leading from the Future
2020
Guaranty Trust Named in Euromoney Excellence in Leadership Awards for Covid-19 Response
In 2020, the renowned Euromoney Magazine created a new award category to spotlight private institutions at the forefront of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and recognized Guaranty Trust with the Excellence in Leadership in Africa Award for exemplary leadership during a global crisis and for the company's swift reaction in responding to the Covid-19 crisis and addressing the impact of the pandemic on its customers and communities.
2020
Guaranty Trust Wins Award for Nigeria’s Best Bank for a record 10th time
Renowned global financial publication, Euromoney, recognised Guaranty Trust as Nigeria’s Best Bank for a record 10th time, lauding its swift response to the Covid-19 crisis and actions aimed at addressing the impact of the pandemic on its customers and communities. The Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence celebrates the best banks around the world by recognizing institutions that have demonstrated leadership, innovation, and momentum in the markets they operate. Key to Guaranty Trust's sustained emergence as Nigeria’s Best Bank is its digital drive to radically expand access to financial services, consistency in delivering the best performance across key financial indices and leading role in driving world-class corporate governance standards.
2020
Guaranty Trust Leads the Fight Against COVID-19
Following the Covid-19 outbreak in Nigeria, Guaranty Trust, working with partners across several industries, delivered a 110-bed care facility for people with COVID-19 to help the government respond quickly and adequately to the spread of the virus. Guaranty Trust continues to bolster the government’s capacity to deal with the pandemic and is playing a leading role in the Private Sector Coalition against COVID-19, also known as CACOVID, which works in partnership with the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to combat the pandemic in Nigeria.
2020
Guaranty Trust Marks 10 Years of Autism Advocacy
Since 2010, Guaranty Trust has been at the forefront of the advocacy for people living with autism. Its Orange Ribbon Initiative has also become a major rallying point for driving awareness about Autism, campaigning against the social stigma associated with developmental disorders and helping people with autism live a full and productive life. In 2020, Guaranty Trust held its Annual Autism Conference despite the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing together, via digital streaming, specialists, caregivers, parents and concerned members of the public to share expertise and experience about supporting children and adults living with autism, in the face of the unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
2020
Kings of Finance: Guaranty Trust Named Africa’s Most Admired Finance Brand
Guaranty Trust was ranked Africa’s Most Admired Finance Brand in the 10th-anniversary rankings of Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands, the pre-eminent survey and ranking of the Top 100 admired brands in Africa. In a special report examining the results of the 2020 survey, the founder of Brand Africa, Thebe Ikalafeng, said Guaranty Trust's “clever marketing, global presence and some of its flagship food and fashion events have undoubtedly helped make it a fixture of daily life in some of its key markets, especially its home base Nigeria.”
2021
Guaranty Trust Opens Training Complex in Abeokuta
Guaranty Trust opened a state-of-the-art training complex named “Tayo’s Plaza,” in memory of Tayo Aderinokun, the co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank. The Complex, which is situated in Abeokuta, includes 105 ensuite residential rooms, half a dozen lecture halls, two fully equipped libraries, an amphitheatre and a banking hall with 24 teller terminals amongst other facilities.
All entrants to Guaranty Trust will now pass through Tayo’s Plaza, where they will undergo an intensive screening and extensive onboarding programme on delivering the best customer experience in financial services.
2021
GTCO Plc Goes Live
On July 1, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, also known as GTCO Plc, became the parent company of Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria, all Guaranty Trust banking and non-banking businesses across Africa and the United Kingdom. This followed our transition to a holding company structure which had been earlier approved by shareholders and regulators.
As a Holding Company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc will be able to go past our previous limits in driving new business ideas that will offer more value beyond banking to people and businesses everywhere we operate.