First National Bank’s tech-savvy CEO, Michael Jordaan, is stepping down. He will leave the bank at the end of 2013, with Jacques Celliers set to take the reins from next year.
According to FNB parent FirstRand Group, Jordaan, who has been CEO of FNB for the past 10 years, wants to “spend more time with his family”.

News of his resignation comes just five months after media reports suggested he was planning to leave the bank. At the time, Jordaan denied he was resigning. He tweeted: “I am not resigning as CEO [of] the most innovative bank in the world.”

At the helm of FNB, Jordaan used technology as a differentiator for the bank. Under his leadership, for example, FNB offered South Africa’s first transactional banking application for smartphones.

FNB recently won the BAI-Finacle Global Banking Award for most innovative bank worldwide. The bank was also the first in South Africa to offer access to PayPal.

On Wednesday, FirstRand said Jordaan had first indicated to the group board in 2010 that he intended stepping down at the end of 2013. “At that point, as CEO of FNB for 10 years, he would have achieved the strategic and operational objectives that he had set out for the business at the beginning of his tenure.”

Jordaan will continue his involvement with FirstRand in a nonexecutive capacity on its various boards and committees.

Jordaan’s successor, Celliers, is currently the CEO of FNB Business Banking and Head of FNB’s India expansion.

“In his 12 years at FNB, Mr Celliers has managed a number of initiatives, particularly focusing on innovative entry strategies in certain new markets that FNB identified for expansion and joint ventures,” FirstRand said in the statement.