By Ahmed Rahma
Over N9.6 trillion has been processed by the FirstMonie agents of First Bank of Nigeria, with more than 250,000 indirect jobs created within the last three years.
The CEO of the financial institution, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, during a chat with newsmen recently disclosed that the channel has been used to make cash transfers to the poorest of the poor in the rural areas by the governments and NGOs.
He revealed that the agents in the rural communities are equipped with BVN enrolment devices which enables them to enrol and open accounts for rural dwellers.
With over 86,000 banking agents across 772 out of the 774 local governments areas in the country, FBN has shown its commitment to deepen financial inclusion and ensure that the unbanked are adequately catered for.
Speaking about the bank’s commitment to providing access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Mr Adeduntun hinged this on “their potential to impact the economy”.
He further stated solutions that have created a functional ecosystem for SMEs. The ecosystem includes access to business finance and market, the connection of the SMEs to talents and resources/cutting edge tools, 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 which according to the CEO has been well received by the SME community is a digital platform that allows them connect to FBN’s offerings from the comfort of their locations anywhere in the world.
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale