In a bid to expand convenient, low cost and secure financial services to the unbanked women in South Eastern Nigeria, Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), a financial sector development organisation has released a Technical Assistance Grant to the sum of $100,015 (One Hundred Thousand and Fifteen US Dollars only), to support FINCA Microfinance Bank’s Agency Banking network.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Chidinma Lawanson, “The FINCA agency banking network clearly aligns with EFInA’s key focus area of using agent banking as a means to reach many under-served and under-banked people, especially women. Through this project, FINCA MFB will offer a full suite of pro-poor savings and loan products to the under-banked people in the South East.”
“In Nigeria, from our EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2014 survey, bank penetration averages only 6.43 branches per 100,000 adults, and this figure is less in rural areas. The distance from bank branches and the associated high cost of servicing low-balance accounts are key challenges that increase financial exclusion of the poor, and this project primarily addresses these challenges”.
Speaking on the grant, the CEO of FINCA Microfinance Bank Ltd Nigeria, Phillip Takyi said, FINCA’s agency banking network will provide increased access to financial services to the community.
He noted that the vision for piloting the FINCA Express (Agency Banking) network project – He said: “The overarching value proposition on FINCA’s Express is to provide clients with choices that ease access to financial services, to ensure convenience as per the client’s definition (proximity, hours and cost of access), to provide value to our clients in areas they define as priorities (lower cost of access, security, convenience etc.), to ensure reliability that attract those with little or no access to financial services.
“We are committed to reaching low-income Nigerians, micro-enterprises, and small businesses that need access to socially responsible financial services. Customers of FINCA will have unlimited access to their account, they can withdraw, make deposits, repay their loans, make transfers from their FINCA account to other FINCA accounts, print their statements and check their account balances without paying for any of these services or leaving their businesses,” he stated.
Mr. Philip added that FINCA’s customers’ transactions are also secured because a customer will authorize access to their account by use of biometrics via their registered fingerprints. When a customer opens a savings account with FINCA, the customer provides a digital scan of their fingerprints.
FINCA MFB is one of the financial institutions in Nigeria to significantly roll out a proprietary agent network to reach the unbanked markets. The agency banking network is expected to deliver convenient and secure financial services to the unbanked, especially women. Under the network, customers will be able to open new accounts, deposit and withdraw cash and perform account to account transfers through ‘agent’ assisted banking.
