Best bank: Access Bank Sierra Leone
Access Bank acquired Standard Chartered Bank (Sierra Leone) in 2024, which has proven a catalyst for reshaping the bank’s overall proposition around trust, reach and service capability.
Access has consolidated its position as a trusted leader in the market, with the enlarged platform translating into greater commercial depth than organic growth could have secured.
Loans and advances rose 137% in 2025 on the back of the acquisition, and pre-tax profit was up 197%. The post-merger bank combines scale with an operating model rooted in hybrid distribution, strong digital capabilities and deep corporate relationships. It also now plays a more credible role in national development and infrastructure.
Access invested heavily in digital and service improvements in 2025. On the retail side, the AccessMore mobile payments app offers a user-friendly channel for everyday account visibility and real-time monitoring. For corporate clients, superior responsiveness via the PrimusPlus platform has made Access a preferred banking partner, with seamless transaction capability for corporate payments.
The bank’s broader customer experience proposition also benefits from Access’s hybrid model, which combines digital channels with selective physical expansion and service access through telecom and wallet partnerships.
Distribution is another key area of strength. For retail clients, the bank distributes through the Access Mobile App, AccessMore App, USSD *901#, an ATM network, remittance channels such as Western Union, Ria and MoneyGram, and mobile wallet integrations with Orange and Afrimoney. This gives Access a multi-channel proposition suited to a market in which customer preferences and infrastructure access vary significantly.
On the corporate side, PrimusPlus is the key distribution platform, processing 62,848 transactions and more than $196 million in value in 2025. This momentum is reinforced by practical product capability in SME and trade finance, including instant business loans, cashflow-based lending, distributor finance, an IFC partnership aimed at scaling SME financing, and an AfDB-backed trade finance guarantee supporting essential goods imports.
