Banking Briefs
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IN its determination to make vacation and other forms of travel pleasant, affordable and easy for travellers, Skye Bank Plc has entered into a partnership with some leading travel agencies by providing travel financing. At the unveiling of the partnership in Lagos, Nkolika Okoli, head, retail banking group, Skye Bank, said the bank would provide financing for the customers to be able to buy their tickets and/or travel packages in good time to enjoy reduced fares.
According to Okoli, the bank would provide 80 percent of the travel cost while the intending traveller will provide just 20 percent of the total travel cost at a minimal interest rate, while the customer is allowed to repay the loan over a maximum tenor of 12 months. Explaining the rationale for the special partnership, Okoli said because most people who travel in Nigeria are salary earners and small business owners in the middle income segment, they might not able to save up for their travel over a long period of time and so end up buying their tickets two or three weeks to the date of travel.
“What this means is that they buy their tickets at a high price. But if you buy your ticket three or four months before your travel date, you may probably save 50 or 60 per cent of what the person who buys two weeks to his travel pays,” she said.
Okoli said the new partnership would enable travellers get the best package, saying the essence of the new financing package was to encourage travellers to buy their tickets early enough to take advantage of low fare. She noted that the existing practise where travel agencies sell tickets on credit and use their money to pay airlines would erode their capital and affect their operations since their margins would be small.
Also speaking at the occasion, Daisi Olotu, managing director, Dees Travels and Tours Limited, one of the partners, commended Skye Bank for the innovative arrangement, saying it would take away from the agencies the risk of customer indebtedness over tickets.
— Nov 30, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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