Heritage Bank Stimulates CBN’s Financial Inclusion on 2020 Target
As
part of efforts to consummate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
initiated policy aimed at reducing the figure of the unbanked populace
by 20 percent by
2020 and to ensure greater participation in the nation’s financial
sector, Heritage Bank Plc has keyed into this initiative to drive
financial inclusion and promote economic growth.
CBN has mandated all banks in line with the 2020 financial inclusion target, to have a nationwide Account Opening Week.
The
Account Opening Week is an initiative of the CBN, Bankers’ Committee
and other Stakeholders to provide opportunities for financially excluded
Nigerians
and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises to open accounts with formal
financial institutions, with the overall aim to access financial
services to reduce the current 36.8per cent financially excluded to
20per cent and stimulate economic growth.
Towards
this developments, Heritage Bank strategically deployed its technology
and large number of staff to reach the large populace who do not have
bank
accounts in selected states were sensitised and mobilised to designated
centres in rural areas, where they opened their personal accounts.
Speaking
on this exercise, the MD/CEO of the bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that
Heritage Bank has been at the fore front and continued to give its
unreserved backing
towards reducing the exclusion rate to 20per cent by 2020, create jobs,
reduce poverty and improve the welfare of the people.
According
to him, the bank succeeded in opening more than 2, 000 bank accounts in
designated centres of the following six (6) states; Kano, Ebonyi,
Nasarawa,
Gombe, Bayelsa and Ondo.
Meanwhile,
Sekibo made recourse to Heritage Bank’s supports so far, thereby noting
that the bank have been taking aggressive approach with the
introduction
of agent banking partners.
He
pinpointed that the bank has brought on board over 10,000 agent
partners since the commencement and launching of ‘corner shop’, which
lends credibility
to the consistency of the service and how it is changing lives and
empowering Nigerians across the country.
At
this steady growth rate of approximately 17.5 percent new agent per
month, one can say that hitting the long term vision of 100,000 active
agents in five
years is well within reach.
However,
Sekibo explained that financially excluded persons constitute a gap in
the financial system and there is no way to create a perfect economy
except
all these people are brought on board.
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