Sam Akpe, Abuja
Nigeria’s pioneer financial institution, First Bank, has announced provision of loan facilities of up to one million naira to its 86,300 banking agents called Firstmonie Agents, spread across 772 local government areas across the country.
Located within every neighborhood across the country, Firstmonie Agents was invented to fill the financial exclusion gap, by providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the suburbs and remote environments that have no access to financial services in the cities.
The arrangement is in line with the mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure availability of affordable financial products and services to all individuals and groups of people in the country; irrespective of location, literacy levels, familiarity with technology and accessibility to modern infrastructural facilities.
First Bank said in a statement by its communication chief, Folake Ani-Mumuney, on Tuesday that Firstmonie Agent channel is among its many initiatives to expand financial access in the country.
Chuma Ezirim, the bank’s group executive in charge of e-Business & Retail Products, said the roles played by Firstmonie Agents in promoting businesses across the nooks and crannies of the country could not be over-emphasized “as they have continued to set the pace in extending financial inclusion to communities with little or no access to financial services.”
It was his view that “With our Firstmonie Agents in every neighborhood, several communities have witnessed a surge in business and financial activities, which is contributory to national growth and development. We commend our agents and are delighted to support them with credit facilities, which they can access 24 hours a day in less than two minutes.”
Meanwhile, the bank says it is supporting schools with an array of educational based products and solutions targeted at enabling the acquisition of various facilities to boost continuous expansion and improvement of the educational sector.
The products and solutions include the FirstEdu Loan, Operational Vehicle Loan, and Term Loans for constructing new sites and extension of existing sites, Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) and FirstAdvance which enhances parents or guardians’ capacity to pay their wards’ school fees.
It was disclosed that the FirstEdu loan offers short-term finance to private pre-primary, primary and secondary schools and registered A-level educational institutions with steady flow of income.
It offers opportunity for private schools to access flexible funding to meet urgent cash flow needs, replace old furniture and equipment or assets, purchase fairly-used school buses, as well as refurbish dilapidated buildings and classroom blocks.
The statement explained that “This product helps school owners/proprietors in bridging the “no-income” gap between school terms, and to enhance diverse assets acquisition. It allows schools access up to N20 million with no tangible collateral required apart from the domiciliation of school fees with the bank.
“Schools with CAC registration that are yet to get Ministry of Education approval can access up to N2 million without collateral for up to 90days.”
The bank mentioned that it is also in partnership with the apex association of private school owners in Nigeria; the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to finance member schools at a highly competitive rate.
This is aimed at “reducing the cost of borrowing to the customer and eliminates the challenges posed by the provision of additional demanding collaterals.
Ezirim is quoted as saying that First Bank recognizes the indelible roles the educational sector plays in promoting national economic development “and we are delighted to support schools with collateral free educational solutions to meet various needs and projects to advance to the next level.”
He observed that “As schools proceed with the new term, we enjoin interested schools to visit the nearest branch or the bank’s website for more information and encourage everyone to access our e-learning driven initiatives to keep learning and get exposed to various opportunities to stay ahead in today’s technologically advanced world.”
