FirstRand Group, one of South Africa’s leading banking groups and a major player across sub-Saharan Africa, on Monday announced a significant restructuring of its flagship First National Bank (FNB) division to streamline operations and enhance client-centric services in a market marked by increasing product commoditisation.
The overhaul merges FNB’s retail and commercial segments into a single Retail and Business Banking (RBB) division that will serve entry-level to middle-income individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A standalone private banking and wealth management unit will be carved out alongside it, while enterprise and public sector businesses will shift into a newly established Commercial and Corporate Bank.
The changes, which FirstRand described as a response to growing product commoditisation across the industry, seek to deliver more integrated, personalised solutions for clients whose personal and business needs increasingly overlap. Rivals in South Africa have pursued similar simplifications in recent years, making segment-specific customer experiences a key battleground for differentiation.
Leadership transition
As part of the restructuring, FNB CEO Harry Kellan will step down at the end of 2026 and take early retirement. Kellan, who has spent 22 years with the FirstRand group, including a decade as group chief financial officer, took over as FNB CEO in April 2024.
Succeeding him is Lytania Johnson, a 25-year veteran of the group who has led FNB’s personal banking subsegment for the past three years. Johnson will assume the dual role of FNB CEO and CEO of the new RBB segment, effective April 1, 2026. All changes have received regulatory approval.
“By bringing together retail and business banking, we can better serve entrepreneurs, small businesses and households who require solutions that can cover their personal and business needs,” Johnson said in a statement.
In a parallel group-level move, FirstRand named its current chief risk officer, Gert Kruger, as group chief operating officer.
Strategic context
FNB is South Africa’s second-largest bank and the cornerstone of FirstRand’s domestic retail franchise. The Johannesburg-listed group (JSE: FSRJ.J) also operates WesBank, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), asset manager Ashburton, and UK subsidiary Aldermore, with a growing footprint across sub-Saharan Africa.
The restructuring comes as FirstRand positions itself to maintain its edge as the region’s most profitable retail and commercial banking player. Analysts have long highlighted the group’s strong capital position, digital innovation, and customer-centric approach as competitive advantages in a market challenged by high interest rates, economic pressures, and rising demand for seamless banking experiences.
Johnson, who will drive the new integrated model, has signalled confidence in FNB’s outlook. The bank has built a suite of market-leading propositions anchored in digital platforms and tailored financial solutions, which the reorganisation is designed to amplify.
No immediate impact on operations or customers is expected, and FirstRand did not provide financial guidance tied to the changes.
The announcement underscores broader trends in African banking, where scale, technology, and customer segmentation are becoming decisive factors for growth in an increasingly sophisticated market.
Investors will watch closely to see how the streamlined structure translates into sustained profitability and market share gains for FirstRand, a bellwether for the continent’s financial services sector.
