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What is the post-merger culture and training school experience like at Access Bank – Lagos?

I have been offered admission into the Access Bank School of Banking Excellence. Access Bank – Lagos has grown massively, especially after acquiring Diamond Bank, and they are now the largest bank in Nigeria by customer base. I want to know what to expect during the intensive four-month training school in Lagos. Is the fail rate very high? Also, once deployed to a branch, what is the internal culture like? Has the aggressive marketing culture mellowed down, or is every single staff member still expected to bring in massive deposits regardless of their department?

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Congratulations on your admission! The Access Bank School of Banking Excellence in Lagos is an incredibly rigorous, four-month boot camp. It is designed to completely break down your university mindset and rebuild you into an aggressive, sharp, and highly knowledgeable commercial banker. The curriculum is extremely intense, covering accounting, credit risk, treasury, and banking operations. Yes, the fail rate is real. You will write exams almost every week. If your cumulative score drops below the pass mark, you will be asked to leave the training school immediately, no matter how close you are to graduation. You will sleep for only four hours a night because of the massive volume of assignments. However, graduating from this school commands massive respect across the entire Nigerian financial sector.

Regarding the post-merger culture at Access Bank – Lagos: The integration of Diamond Bank drastically changed the landscape. Access Bank used to be strictly corporate and incredibly aggressive. Diamond Bank brought in massive retail presence and a slightly softer culture. Today, Access Bank is a hybrid. The aggressive DNA is still very much alive. The bank wants to be the number one bank in Africa, and that ambition translates to massive pressure on the staff. Target pressure is universal; whether you are in operations, IT, or HR, you are expected to cross-sell bank products and bring in low-cost deposits. The work environment is extremely fast-paced and highly competitive. The salary is excellent, and they reward high performers very handsomely, but you must be a hustler to survive and thrive there.

The Access Bank training school is harder than my entire university degree. But it bonds you with your classmates forever. The network you build during those four months will save your career multiple times in the future.

Post-merger Access Bank is a massive machine. Because they are so big now, getting noticed for promotion can be difficult. You must learn how to blow your own trumpet loudly and visibly exceed your targets.

Access Bank is arguably the most digitally advanced bank right now. If you are tech-savvy, you will love their internal systems. But the marketing pressure is non-stop. Every Monday morning meeting is about deposit targets.