Menu

Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has awarded a $2 million grant to First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to extend banking services to the financially excluded population in Nigeria.

EFInA, a financial sector development organization that promotes financial inclusion in Nigeria, said the grant will enable FCMB, via its Group Lending and Agency Banking project, to provide financial services and access to credit facilities to prospective customers in 12 states; namely, Bauchi, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, and Abia.

“According to the EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2014 survey, 42.7 percent of the total female population is financially excluded, compared to 35.8 percent of the total male population,” Chidinma Lawanson, EFInA’s CEO, said in a statement released on Friday. “To this effect, the FCMB Group Lending project seeks to drive financial inclusion by targeting low-income women and micro business owners directly through digital financial services and agent banking.”

Lawanson said the project is estimated to impact over 200,000 customers by providing a minimum loan of N30,000 per beneficiary. The loan includes a compulsory savings element to promote a savings culture among the financial excluded population.

“In line with EFInA’s focus to increase access to financial products and services to the low income population, especially women, the project is also designed to empower women by recruiting female agents in the target communities,” the EFInA CEO said.

The FCMB Group Lending and Agency Banking project is a digitized credit and savings solution, which facilitates instant account opening with debit card issuance for online real time transactions driven by point of sale (POS) and mobile devices.

In his remarks, Ladi Balogun, the Group Managing Director/CEO of FCMB, said the bank’s project will drive financial inclusion in Nigeria through the deployment of agents in communities without financial service providers.

“The project will be highly driven by technology to create a distinct offering from other existing micro lending businesses,” Balogun said. “The automation of loan processing, disbursement, and repayment via POS/mobile solutions will ensure an efficient and swift loan disbursement and collection process.”

Founded in 2007, EFInA is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.