Sterling Bank has reserved N10 billion loans for consistent salary earners in Nigeria under its newly launched product, Specta, by December 2018.
The bank disclosed this during the launch of Specta, a digital innovative retail lending platform recently in Lagos.
Speaking at the launch of Specta, Benedicta Sadoh, head, value chain, said the lending platform offers consumers loans of up to N5million in five minutes without collateral.
‘‘With Specta, consumers have access to personal loan products within five minutes of profiling. We give a maximum loan of N5 million but this is subject to a repayment amount equivalent to 33.3 of the customer’s net monthly salary,’’ said Sadoh.
‘‘No collateral is required and all loans are insured. So, there is insurance against job loss, death and permanent disability. Specta ensures speed, convenience and safety.’’
Sadoh explained that Specta is strictly for salaried workers at all levels and those interested can apply without having an account with the bank or downloading any application.
‘‘We engage the human resource manager and all the necessary approvals are in place, the manager populates an excel sheet with the details of their interested staff. As soon as the details are given to us, within five minutes it is uploaded in Specta,’’ she explained.
‘‘An SMS and email is sent to each of the corporates saying it is time for them to enjoy their Specta experience and their five minutes starts. Specta is barely four months old and as at today, we have over 700 corporates that have signed up with us. ’’
Shina Atilola, group head, strategy and innovation, said the lending platform was birthed with the aim of eliminating the burdens associated with loan procurement making it as seamless as possible.
‘‘Our purpose at sterling Bank is to enrich lives and we do this by adding value to individuals. Most people want to pay school fees or buy products and they don’t want to go through the arduous of loans,’’ said Atilola.
‘‘One can sit in the comfort of their home or car and with a mobile phone, they can apply. From the application to the crediting of their account, the experience is less than five minutes. We have done the average analysis and have discovered that its 2.55minutes. It’s the first of its kind in the industry.
According to Grama Narasimhan, executive director, retail and consumer banking, the bank is targeting 100,000 customers by December, 2018.
‘‘Our loan cap is N5million for one transaction but a customer can do multiple transactions to get more loans. As long as customers come to us, we are happy to lend to them,’’ he said.
‘‘The future of banking is digital and not in people coming to the bank to fill application forms to get service from the bank.’’
The bank said it would be offering free 20-litres of petrol to customers who are profiled on Specta at all Conoil filling stations nationwide between 5 pm on April 30 and 5 pm on May 1, adding that over 7,000 customers have been profiled.
Chinwe Agbeze
