FirstBank deepens financial inclusion with FirstMonie, empowers SMES

FIRST Bank of Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to deepening financial inclusion and ensuring the unbanked are adequately catered for.

The bank’s CEO, Adesola Adeduntan, made this known in an interview with BusinessDay, stating that over N9.6 trillion had been processed through the bank’s agent network.

Adeduntan explained that FirstMonie agents have supported several government and NGOs’ cash transfers to the poorest of the poor in the rural areas. He said 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”.

In discussing the bank’s value adding solutions that have created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive, Adeduntan noted that 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 the bank’s 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 the bank continue to engage across the country.