First City Monument Bank(FCMB), through EasyAgents, its agency banking network and other channels, has granted N28.7 billion loans to 200,000 women in the country.
Similarly, it has also successfully on-boarded and empowered one million financially excluded Nigerians, ensuring they have a better and more sustainable future through access to financial services.
As part of its financial inclusion programme, the bank has provided microloans valued at N40 billion to over 300,000 beneficiaries comprising 200,000 women traders across the country who have accessed over US$51.28 million (N28.7 billion) of the total loan sum.
Committing to affordable and sustainable financial services for unbanked and underbanked Nigerians, the managing director of FCMB, Mrs Yemisi Edun, said:
“We are proud of our significant role in integrating Nigeria’s huge informal economy driven by small-scale farmers, traders, artisans, and other small and medium-sized businesses into the formal economy through affordable and sustainable access to financial services.
“Access to financial services enables prosperity and allows disadvantaged and vulnerable people to improve their lives, create wealth and reduce poverty. So, we will continue championing and executing initiatives that deepen access to affordable and sustainable financial services in our local communities to empower individuals and businesses,” she pointed out.
FCMB has invested close to 10,000 agency bankers that bring financial services to the streets and doorsteps of millions of Nigerians in peri-urban and rural areas. They are currently driving the onboarding and empowering of unbanked and under-banked Nigerians.