BEVERLY HILLS, January 29, (THEWILL) – To boost learning and uplift Nigeria’s struggling educational sector, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has rolled out an array of educational based products and solutions towards this objective.
The facilities are targeted at enabling the acquisition of various facilities to boost the continuous expansion and improvement of the educational sector.
For comprehensive impact, parents and guardians are not left out, as the Bank has bespoke products which empower them to meet the educational needs of their children.
The Bank, in a statement, listed the educational products and solutions to include the FirstEdu Loan, Operational Vehicle Loan, Term Loans for constructing new sites and extension of existing sites, Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) and FirstAdvance which enhances Parents/Guardians’ capacity to pay their wards’ school fees.
Giving an insight into the innovations, The Tier-1 lender explained that FirstEdu loan offers short-term finance to private pre-primary, primary and secondary schools/ registered ‘A’ level educational institutions with steady flow of income.
It further said that the product offers opportunity for private schools to access flexible funding to meet urgent cash flow needs, replace old furniture and equipment or assets, purchase of fairly-used school buses, as well as refurbishing dilapidated buildings and classroom blocks.
“This product helps school owners/proprietors in bridging the ‘no-income’ gap between school terms, and to enhance diverse assets acquisition.
“It allows schools access up to N20 million with no tangible collateral required apart from the domiciliation of school fees with the Bank.
“Schools with CAC registration that are yet to get Ministry of Education approval can access up to N2million without collateral for up to 90days,” the bank said in a statement signed by its Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, and made available to THEWILL.
In a bid to cushion the effect of covid-19 pandemic, First Bank is in partnership with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) to finance low-cost private schools at a single digit interest rate where schools can access up to N5million.
The Bank is also in partnership with the apex association of private school owners in Nigeria, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to finance member schools at a highly competitive rate.
According to the statement, this reduces the cost of borrowing to the customer and eliminates the challenges posed by the provision of additional demanding collaterals.
There is also the Operational Vehicle Loan targeted at registered businesses which allows the entrepreneur to acquire brand new vehicles for the day-to-day operation of the business.
“Organisations can take advantage of this facility to purchase school buses in the case of school proprietors and even upscale their staff welfare schemes through provision of staff buses”, the bank said, adding, “The product terms and conditions are competitive.”
There is also the Personal Loan against Salary (PLAS) designed to offer customers in paid employment access to cash to meet immediate financial needs such as payment of school fees, medical treatment, holiday expenses, etc.
To achieve this objective seamlessly, “PLAS has a flexible repayment plan spread up to 48 months for our customers’ convenience”, the bank explained, adding, “There is no equity contribution or collateral requirement.”
On the list is FirstAdvance – a 30days tenured digital loan also available to salary customers who are in need of assistance to meet immediate financial needs.
The product empowers customers to access up to 50 per cent of their net monthly salary in less than a minute at any desired time by dialing *894*11# or through the bank’s FirstMobile App.
“Only a salary account domiciled with FirstBank will qualify you for PLAS and FirstAdvance”, the bank said.
Beyond these, FirstBank is at the forefront of promoting virtual learning, whilst exposing not just school children but individuals of all ages to various e-learning initiatives, designed to promote innovation and skills development on emerging technologies through focus areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Cloud, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Data Science and Analytics, and Cybersecurity.
In achieving this, the Bank has collaborated with Lagos State government, IBM and Curious Learning to ensure the e-learning initiative swiftly moves across the country to school children and individuals with the need to promote the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of age.
Speaking on the Bank’s support for schools, Mr. Chuma Ezirim, FirstBank’s Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products, said “at FirstBank, we recognize the indelible roles the educational sector plays in promoting national economic development and we are delighted to support schools with collateral free educational solutions to meet various needs and projects to advance to the next level.”
“As schools proceed with the new term, we enjoin interested schools to visit the nearest branch or the Bank’s website for more information and encourage everyone to access our e-learning driven initiatives to keep learning and get exposed to various opportunities to stay ahead in today’s technologically advanced world.”
