Banking
FCMB Gives Zero-Free Loans to 15,000 Women-Owned SMEs
By Dipo Olowookere
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has continued to endear itself to players in the Small and Medium Enterprises sector in the country as a result of its support to the ecosystem.
To stakeholders in the industry, it was not a surprise to them when in November 2020 the lender was voted as the Best SME Bank in Africa at the Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards.
This was because the financial institution has been a great support to the SMEs sector of the economy and to them, the award was in the true recognition of its great contributions to the growth of the space.
FCMB has always expressed its unequalled commitment to SMEs by offering exceptional services, including funding, capacity building and other value-added supports to the industry.
The foremost financial services provider in Nigeria has specifically taken a special interest in female entrepreneurs by making more funds available to them through its SheVentures initiative.
The SheVentures initiative offers enhanced support to women-owned SMEs and starts-ups through access to finance, training and mentoring with the unique benefit of zero-interest-rate for an initial period of three months.
More than 15,000 entrepreneurs have so far benefitted from this, in terms of funding and training, in the last 18 months.
This may have been one of the things that spurred the Asian Banker to confer the November award on FCMB.
According to the Asian Banker, FCMB emerged as the Best SME Bank in Africa following, “series of online surveys across the region to gather feedback from thousands of customers per market.
“In the survey, we also asked customers to rate how well their main Banks have helped them during the crisis. The results and rankings are a true reflection of the voice of the customers.”
The organisers further stated: “FCMB has introduced various digital initiatives into the SMEs segment, such as digital loan products (Quickloans) and its New Mobile banking platform.
“In addition, the Bank launched a platform, which was a first of its kind, to help women-owned businesses scale up, by leveraging access to financing schemes, mentorship programmes, as well as training and networking opportunities.
“FCMB has equally helped SMEs to enhance capacity, thereby improving their business operations, connect with peers and access to trusted service professionals.
“The Bank has a 25 per cent market share in the SME business, and in 2019 had more than 300,000 new accounts in this segment.
“We commend FCMB for its incredible contributions towards ensuring the growth and sustainable development of SMEs within the region.”
Speaking while receiving the award, the Executive Director, Business Development, FCMB, Bukola Smith, said the emergence of the Bank as the number one in the highly competitive SME category speaks volumes about its journey so far and its contribution to the success of businesses, despite the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith said: “As a resilient, inclusive and responsive institution, we have continued to deploy solutions to transform the challenges posed by COVID-19 to opportunities for our customers by leveraging on our robust technology, digital transformation drive and highly professional team.
“Our SME Banking offerings have significantly changed lives through job and wealth creation, among other benefits.
“This is because we believe that the only way we can succeed is when our customers succeed.
“We are very proud to be the Best SME Bank in Africa, particularly coming after KPMG rated us as the Best SME Bank in Nigeria in the 2019 Nigeria Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey report.
“This latest award will undoubtedly inspire us to perform better.”
FCMB, as a leading financial powerhouse in Nigeria, has built a strong base and dominated the SMEs segment by consistently offering various cutting-edge solutions through its key pillars of support.
These are, access to capital, capacity building, advisory services, networking opportunity and technology.
The FCMB SME Advisory Service provides market intelligence and technical assistance support to businesses, access to intervention funds in partnership with Development Financial Institutions as well as provision of credit risk-sharing facilities to mitigate the credit risk and collateral gaps experienced in lending to SMEs.
The bank has also taken the lead by automating and digitalising its lending process for SMEs through the FCMB Quick-loans platform.
Through this platform, the Bank disburses over 5,000 digital loans monthly to SMEs.
FCMB equally realises the potential of Agriculture to transform the Nigerian economy, generate employment, revenue and diversification.
To this end, the bank has consistently increased its support to SMEs across the Agricultural value chains from input manufacturers, service providers, primary producers, traders, processors, manufacturers and exporters as well as distributors and traders of agricultural products.
FCMB is one of the few banks with the highest agribusiness portfolio in contribution terms at 9 per cent.
FCMB also recently launched its Business Zone, which is an online community where SMEs can interact amongst themselves and utilise the services of various business enablers and professionals for their benefits from various e-learning programmes.
The bank has also been active in the renewable energy space lending to SMEs under a scheme developed by the World Bank, with the hope of reducing the electricity inadequacies, especially in rural and economically viable communities.
First City Monument Bank Limited, with over 200 branches spread across Nigeria, is a member of FCMB Group Plc.
The group is one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments.
Having successfully transformed to a retail banking and wealth management-led group, FCMB expects to continue to distinguish itself through innovation and the delivery of exceptional services in line with its values of Execution, Professionalism, Innovation and Customer-focus (EPIC).
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The chief executive of TeamApt Limited, Mr Dennis Ajalie, has called for a robust collaboration in the digital payments ecosystem, saying banks and fintech companies should not see themselves as rivals.
Mr Ajalie said the industry’s regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has delineated what each entity should do and how they should function in creating a successful payment ecosystem that protects consumers and enables businesses, which he admitted to be complementary and not competitive.
Touching on the imperative of borderless transactions and the solutions for implementation concerning the framework, he said, “Borderless transactions have to happen because we’re becoming more interconnected by the day and by the minute.”
“We still have a lot of siloed implementations among key stakeholders and unless we recalibrate our systems, borderless remains beyond our reach and a mirage,” Mr Ajalie stated at the Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH) conference in Lagos themed Payment System Vision 2030: Navigating Contemporary Issues in Driving Future Growth.
“There’s the fierce urgency of now that demands that we find solid ways to interconnect, and once we’re able to interconnect within ourselves, reconcile properly, especially on the local front, then we can present a single, unified front that will enable us to push transactions and receive transactions from outside.
“We cannot go forward without fixing these internal challenges,” he added at the event, where he was one of the panellists.
TeamApt, a subsidiary of Moniepoint Incorporated, facilitates payment processing across many industries while enabling reliable payments for banks and their customers while reducing operating costs.
Wrapping up his thoughts, the TeamApt boss reiterated the need for industry-wide collaborations in fighting the menace of fraud.
“If we are able to all share information and collaborate seamlessly, we’ll find out that it becomes disinteresting for these bad faith individuals to use the collective technology commonwealth that we have all built to commit nefarious activities.
“So, it goes back to collaboration among fintechs, the banks, NFIU, infrastructure providers, the telcos, and switches. We’ve all got to come together to say, enough is enough and that this present situation threatens all of us rather than just one of us,” he added.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
An innovative web banking platform to provide customers with an additional digital channel to manage and carry out uninterrupted daily transactions on their phones, laptops and other devices has been introduced by Bankit Microfinance Bank (MFB).
The emerging small financial institution said it came up with this platform to break barriers and empower individuals and businesses to manage their finances with confidence.
With this, Bankit MFB is redefining convenience and security in banking, ensuring uninterrupted access to financial services, time-saving functionalities, efficiency, real-time account updates, 24/7 availability, and faster transactions.
“In today’s fast-paced digital age, connectivity is everything in banking, and for us, it’s all about improving customer experience with simple banking options and empowering our teeming customers to live their best lives.
“We are revolutionizing the Fintech landscape in Nigeria, and we have developed this solution to empower our customers to bank securely, anytime, anywhere, conveniently.
“We are committed to leveraging technology to enhance the banking experience for all our customers,” the chief executive of Bankit Africa, Mr Yen Choi, stated.
“Bankit’s web banking platform reaffirms one of the bank’s core values – Innovation and sets a new standard for accessibility and security in the banking industry.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to excellence, Bankit Africa will continue to evolve its offerings to meet and exceed the needs of its rising customer base.
“Some key features of this web banking platform include: a simple way to send money, buy airtime, and pay bills with no extra fees or hidden charges,” he added.
Bankit MFB is a licensed financial institution dedicated to providing innovative, customer-centric financial solutions to individuals, businesses, and communities in Nigeria, with a focus on simplicity, convenience, and security.
By Dipo Olowookere
Banking operations at the branches of most financial institutions in Nigeria will end earlier than expected today, Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
The majority of them have sent messages to their customers to inform them of this development.
Business Post sighted some of these notices sent by the banks to their customers via electronic mails (e-mails).
One of them from Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Limited said transactions at its Lagos branches will close for the day and year by 3 pm while in other branches at 2 pm, encouraging customers to use its digital channels for their financial transactions.
“We would like to inform you that all our branches nationwide will close to customers early on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
“During this period, we encourage you to take advantage of our digital channels for banking needs,” the notice read in parts.
On its part, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc said its branches would close for the day at 2 pm across the nation.
“As we prepare for the New Year celebration, our branches will close by 2 pm on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
“While our branches take a break, our digital channels, the UBA Mobile Banking, Leo, *919# or internet banking are available 24/7 for all your banking needs.
“Your security is our priority. We will never ask for your BVN, card number, PIN or personal details. Suspect anything fraudulent? Call our Fraud Help Desk,” the message from the lender read.
As for Fidelity Bank Plc, it plans to stop banking services at its branches nationwide today by 2 pm to resume on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
“Please be informed that our branches will close at 2 pm on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, ahead of the New Year holiday.
“As always, our digital channels; Mobile Banking, USSD Bank (*770#), PoS, ATMs, Cards, and Ivy Chat, will be available 24/7 for all banking transactions.
“Please note that normal operations will resume at 8 am on Thursday, January 2, 2025,” the bank said in its message to customers.
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