NET microfinance bank has disclosed plans to promote improved financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, with the launch of its operations in the Dawaki community, in the Federal capital territory.
Speaking with Businessday during the opening of the Bank on Monday, Saidu Yusuf, the managing director of the bank noted that it seeks to provide financial services to the unserved and underserved small business owners in the community.
He said, “The concept of NET microfinance bank was conceived two years ago because we observed that in the entire Dawaki community, there is no commercial or microfinance bank, this is why we decided to establish this here. And before we did that, we surveyed to understand the businesses here to better meet their needs.
“We discovered that most of the businesses here are micro, small and medium enterprises and they are confronted with challenges of not just savings but withdrawals. So this is what we seek to address.”
“NET Microfinance Bank Ltd is a CBN-licensed microfinance bank in Nigeria that provides a wide range of financial services to individuals and businesses. We are committed to helping our customers achieve their financial goals by providing them with innovative, affordable, and accessible financial products and services.
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According to him, efforts were ongoing to introduce agricultural services to farmers in neighbouring communities. “We also discovered that many people in neighbouring communities are into farming, so we are trying to meet their needs, not necessarily in cash but through the provision of farm inputs, this way we will ensure that funds are not diverted.
“We are looking to provide farm inputs such as seeds, and pesticides, we are making arrangements with them and opening accounts with them to provide these supports.
“For the MSMEs, plans are ongoing to train business owners on basic business practices, we discovered that many of them do not have an understanding of cash flow, so we will give them points on sales (POS) machines for their businesses.
“This will help them track their cash flow, we aim to ensure that we get the unbanked and underbanked to be financially included. This will also help them save, and know the size of their businesses, and determine what they need to expand,” he said.
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For Kolawole Idiaro, the chairman of the bank, the community with a population of over 500,000 do not have any presence of a commercial or microfinance bank.
“Net microfinance bank, being in Dawaki is very strategic. In this whole area, there’s no single bank, so they are excluded from banking services. For them to access bank services they will have to go to Kubwa or Duste.
“So we picked this area because we see a population of almost 500,000 people living in this axis. We bringing banking service to them. Our service is not going to be like other microfinance banks, as we are launching our operations today, we have mounted two ATMs out there.
“So when we close our business at the regulatory time, the bank will still be up and running and they can access our services, through the ATMs, because we have instant debit cards for customers, and they can access our mobile apps.
“We offer a variety of financial products and services to help businesses grow and succeed,” he said.
