First Bank of Nigeria Limited, the premier financial provider, has expressed its commitment to continue driving financial inclusion through its over 37,000 firstmonie Agent Network, present in 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
Speaking during the Firstmonie Agent Banking national award ceremony, recently held in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, said the firstmonie agent network is a bespoke channel through which the bank expresses its unalloyed commitment and passion to promote opportunities and access to financial services by every Nigerian, especially within the low-income segment. The Firstmonie Agent Banking awards had the Bank – FirstBank – reward 37 leading Agents that have promoted financial inclusion in the country. The sum of N250,000 was won at the State level by 31 Agents; N1,000,000.00 at the Regional level by 5 Agents with the grand prize being the sum of N2,500,000.00 at the National Level.
He also stated that the initiative has witnessed several changes in the operating structure and value proposition, adding that in December 2017, the bank ran a pilot test with over 400,000 transactions processed and following the success of the first run, it re-launched in 2018.
Speaking further, Adeduntan explained that with the initiative, the gap between the tech savvy and the low literacy clients has been breached as Firstmonie agent network represents the convenient and comfortable alternative for customers that are unacquainted with sophisticated digital channels.
Giving his remark at the event, the Deputy Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Francis Shobo, noted that the agents are the most critical part of the banking ecosystem because they take deposits, make payments and open accounts, provide transfers and sell airtime at locations with little or no access to financial services.
Giving accolades, Shobo lauded the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele for the role the apex bank has played, stating that the CBN has made a lot of changes in regulation around agency banking, saying “they have allowed the programme to scale as much as it has scaled.”
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