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First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has emerged as Best SME Bank in Africa and Best SME Bank in Nigeria at the Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards.

At the award ceremony on 27 August 2021, FCMB emerged as Best SME Bank in Africa for the second time at the prestigious honour programme for consumer financial services and technology in the Middle East and Africa region.

“We are excited to win two awards this year, especially the Best SME Bank in Africa, for the second year,” said Yemisi Edun, Managing Director and CEO of FCMB. “This shows that we are meeting the specific needs of customers in this segment and are on a growth trajectory. The awards will inspire us to further expand the frontiers of our innovation and go the extra mile to provide solutions that consistently enhance customer experience.”

The CEO said she dedicates the awards to the bank’s SME customers, adding that FCMB would continue to offer exceptional services, including funding and capacity building to small businesses.

FCMB has made a leap in digitisation by automating its lending process for SMEs through the FCMB Quickloans platform. Through this channel, the lender said it has disbursed over N100 billion in loans to entrepreneurs. The platform processes over 25,000 digital loans, with disbursements hitting N9 billion in a month in the third quarter of 2021.

The bank also provides market intelligence and technical assistance support to small businesses, access to intervention funds in partnership with development financial institutions, as well as provision of credit facilities to mitigate the credit risk and collateral gaps experienced in lending to SMEs.

According to the bank, FCMB has provided over N23 billion loan guarantee support to SMEs with inadequate collateral or those in the start-up stage.

Over 30 financial institutions and technology companies from 10 countries in the Middle East and Africa historically send in entries for adjudication at the annual Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards, according to the organisers. Apart from its panel of international assessors, the judging process is supplemented by BankQuality, a rating site for financial service providers and customers.

First City Monument Bank (www.fcmb.com) is a member of FCMB Group Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading and most diversified financial holding company with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments. The bank has a strong base in various sectors of the nation’s economy, offering cutting-edge solutions to its customers across segments.

Having transformed successfully into a retail banking and wealth management-led group, FCMB expects to continue to distinguish itself through innovation and the delivery of exceptional services, the bank said.