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L-R:
Sam Egube, Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos State
(representing the Governor, Lagos); Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive,
e-Business & Retail products,FirstBank; Gbenga Shobo, Deputy
Managing Director, FirstBank; Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive
Officer, FirstBank; Chief Joseph Sanusi, Former MD, FirstBank &
Former CBN Governor; with the National Winner of the 2019 Firstmonie
Agent Awards, Zayyanu Hassan Ishaq from Abuja - North Central - (3rd
right) at the Firstmonie Agent Awards held in Lagos
last
Friday which had 37 leading agents of the Bank rewarded for their role at promoting financial inclusion in the country.
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First
Bank of Nigeria Limited has expressed its commitment to driving
financial inclusion across Nigeria. With currently over 37,000
Firstmonie Agents, present in 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in
Nigeria, the Bank is the leading financial institution at promoting
financial inclusion in the country to all Nigerians, regardless of where
they are.
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.
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.
In his remarks,
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.
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,
“they have allowed the programme to scale as much as it has scaled.”
In chat with newsmen after
receiving the cash prize at the event, the N2.5 million grand prize
winner at the national level from Abuja (North Central), Zayyanu Hassan
Ishaq, expressed his amazement
at his prize, one he noted he finds very encouraging and a miracle from
God.
“I want to thank FirstBank
for this gesture. It took me by surprise, because I never expected it
from them. This is a miracle. “FirstBank is truly different. This will
spur me to work harder and ensure
more people have access to the top-class financial services offered by
FirstBank” joy-filled Ishaq concluded.
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