Banking Briefs
ACCESS Bank Plc said it granted over N37 billion in loans to its small and medium enterprises, SMEs, customers in 2018. Ayodele Olojede, head, emerging businesses, Access Bank, said the bank, in three years, invested significantly in the growth of SMEs.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos recently, Olojede said the bank loves MSMEs and have significantly invested in understanding of the market variables. She said over a three-year period, the bank has expanded lending at a growth rate of 30 percent. According to her, in 2018 the bank achieved a growth rate of 54 percent granting about N37 billion to MSMEs leveraging best in class specific MSME credit assessment methods.
“With this innovative method of lending, all that an SME requires to access a loan is a good credit record and keeping sales/business records and we will lend to you without asking you for an arm and a leg. We will work with the asset type that you have and register it on the National Collateral Registry.
“In 2018 alone, using this method, we have been able to grant loans to over 3,000 ‘New to Borrowing’ customers and with flexible collateral options enabled by National Collateral Registry. 30 percent of what we have granted to SMEs was used to support women business owners through our W-power Initiative, with loans priced at 15 percent per annum,” she said.
Olojede revealed that the bank has begun to expand its footprints in the health, education and technology sectors, while adding that, through its partnership with Medical Credit fund, practitioners across the health value chain can access loan up to N3 million without collateral. “We are also at the forefront of driving the creative sector loan. We are about the only bank to have submitted an application to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.”
– Aug. 2, 2019 @ 17:27 GMT |
Tags: We granted N37bn in loans to SMEs in 2018 – Access Bank
