First Bank Deepens Financial Inclusion with Largest Agent Banking Network, Empowers SMEs - Proshare Nigeria Limited

Wednesday, January 20, 2021/09:10AM/ FirstBank / Header Image
Credit: FirstBank

At present, there are over
86,000 banking agents across 772 out of the 774 local government areas in
Nigeria, a demonstration of FirstBank’s commitment to deepening financial
inclusion and ensuring the unbanked are adequately catered for. In an interview
with BusinessDay, Adesola Adeduntan, FirstBank’s CEO, noted that over N9.6
trillion had been processed through the bank’s agent network.

As he explained,
FirstMonie agents have supported several government and NGOs’ cash transfers to
the poorest of the poor in the rural areas. Additionally, selected FirstMonie
agents in the rural communities are equipped with BVN enrolment devices; as
such they are able to enrol and open accounts for rural dwellers that hitherto
may not have had the opportunity to be included in the formal financial
services system.

The bank’s commitment to
providing access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was also
highlighted by the CEO, who hinged this on “their potential to impact the
economy”.

He discussed the bank’s value
adding solutions that have created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive.
The ecosystem includes propositions such as connection of the SMEs to talents
and resources/cutting edge tools, access to business finance and market,
capacity building opportunities and policy advocacy.

These are all aggregated
on its SMEConnect platform as value adding products and services for easy
access and at rates (prices) that are competitive and mostly discounted. The
SMEConnect is a digital platform that allows the SMEs connect to FirstBank’s
offerings from the comfort of their locations anywhere in the world.

This, according to
Adeduntan, has been well received by the SME community as we engage across the
country.

Culled from BusinessDay