Case study · First City Monument Bank · 2024 to 2025

Corporate banking,from scratch

A corporate internet banking platform for Nigeria and the UK, serving 200,000+ SME and enterprise clients.

01 · The start

FCMB's corporate clients could sign in and look at their transactions. That was the platform. Opening an account meant physically walking into a branch, and onboarding took weeks. Authenticating on the app required a dedicated hardware token the bank had to issue you first.

The old FCMB Online business banking portal: a login form beside promotional banners and a cookie notice. — Where it started — the whole platform was this portal.

02 · What we built

Corporate internet banking across two markets, from scratch: digital onboarding that removed the branch visit, TOTP authentication in place of hardware tokens, transfers with multi-party approval, bulk payments, payroll, FX and trade management, and team management for the people who actually operate a company's money. Onboarding time-to-value fell by 40%, and monthly transaction volume scaled from ₦200M at alpha to over ₦70B (about US$45M) within months of launch.

Working model · Product system

The platform served two markets and four user roles.

Market 01

Nigeria

Market 02

United Kingdom

Corporate banking platform

Shared platform

People doing different jobs

Initiator
Approver
Treasurer
Administrator

Core capabilities

Digital onboarding
Bulk payments
Payroll
FX + trade
Team controls
TOTP security

200,000+

SME + enterprise clients

₦70B+

Monthly volume at scale

−40%

Onboarding time-to-value

This simplified map shows the public roles and capabilities described in the case study. It does not reproduce FCMB’s internal architecture.

Onboarding entry screen offering two paths: set up internet banking for an existing corporate account, or open a new corporate account. — Onboarding starts with one question, not a branch visit.

Two-factor authentication setup screen with an authenticator QR code. — TOTP replaced the hardware token the bank had to issue.

03 · Moving money

Corporate payments carry more weight than retail ones: higher values, FX legs, and several people who must agree before money leaves. The send-money flow shows every charge before you commit, down to who bears the offshore charge on an international transfer, and a bulk payment carries a whole payroll in one submission.

International payment form with an expanded fee breakdown: commission, VAT, telex, offshore and minimum charges, and a choice of who bears the offshore charge. — Every charge itemised before you commit — including who bears it.

Review screen for a bulk staff payroll payment to 25 recipients, showing the multi-party approval chain it will pass through: treasury, then compliance, then the CFO. — One payroll, 25 recipients, and the approval chain it must survive.

04 · Many personas

The platform served four roles with different permissions and responsibilities. Initiators create payments, approvers authorize them, treasurers monitor cash, and administrators control access. We designed team permissions, multi-party approvals, transaction PINs, and authenticator checks around those responsibilities.

Governance is the half of corporate banking nobody sees in a screenshot of a transfer: who may act, what they may approve, and a record of everything they did.

Team members list showing each person's role, last login, and two-factor authentication status. — The team, with 2FA status a column, not a setting.

Roles screen listing default roles alongside a custom role created by the client. — Default roles, plus custom ones clients define.

Approval rules list: utility payments, international payments, high-value transfers, and scheduled payments, each with its own rule and status. — Approval rules by payment type and value.

Activity log recording who did what, when, and from where, including declined payment requests and team changes. — Every action logged: who, what, when, from where.

05 · With design

Design and I worked side by side in Figma on the accounts home, statements, send-money flow, and transfer approval chain before a line of code was written. I mapped the workflow logic and built prototypes. Design turned those prototypes into the final interface.

The screens on this page are from those design files, shown with sample data.

In their words

“Femi is one of the most well-rounded people I know, deeply knowledgeable in his areas of expertise, yet endlessly curious about the things he isn’t. Come to any conversation with facts, because he’ll debate you fairly on anything.”
Morakinyo Adejare · Lead Product Designer, FCMB