Customers of First of Bank Nigeria Ltd have been able to access over N17billion worth of loans through the bank’s Firstadvance, a digital lending solution, as compiled from the tier-one bank.
According to the lender, Firstadvance is designed to offer convenient and easy access to cash for salary earners whose accounts are domiciled with Firstbank and have received regular salaries for two months, before the loan request. In barely a year since the launch of Firstadvance, over 128,000 unique customers in over 782,996 successful transactions have so far benefitted from loans.
Meanwhile, the World Bank believes financial inclusion does not only end with having access to financial services but being able to access credit. Data by EFINA shows about 40 million Nigerians are outside the formal financial system, a barrier that is constraining many from accessing loans. Explaining how Firstadvance works, Firstbank said: “Processing a loan with Firstadvance is implemented in less than a minute and it is accessed in two ways, the USSD code; *894*11# or the Bank’s recently upgraded mobile banking application, Firstmobile”.
Further to its pursuit of providing options to Nigerians across all income bands, Firstbank also offers Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) to individuals in paid employment who need long term loan to meet their financial obligation more especially as the economy returns to normalcy POST-COVID-19 pandemic and as schools resume. Firstbank’s Personal Loan guarantees a convenient repayment plan of up to 60 months.
According to Gbenga Shobo, FirstBank’s Deputy Managing Director, meeting the needs of “our customers have always been our priority and we are delighted with the volume of loans disbursed to Nigerians as it reinforces the confidence of Nigerian workers in Firstadvance, our digital lending solution and also our long-term offerings through Personal Loans for people in paid employment.”
