FCMB Gets Recognition As Best SME Bank In Africa And Nigeria – Asian Banker, Middle East and Africa Regional Awards
First City Monument Bank (FCMB), has been recognised as Best SME Bank in Africa and Nigeria at the Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards which held on the 27th of August 2021.
The bank beat all other Nigerian and African banks to win national and continental honours for the second time.
Commenting on the awards, the MD of FCMB Bank, Mrs. Yemisi Edun, said, “We are excited to win two awards this year, especially the Best SME Bank in Africa, for the second year. This shows that we are meeting the needs of our customers in this segment. The awards will inspire us to further expand the frontiers of our innovation and go the extra mile to provide solutions that consistently enhance customer experience.”
Whilst thanking the Asian Banker for the awards, she added that First City Monument Bank would continue to offer exceptional services, including funding and capacity building to small businesses.
Remarkably, the Bank has taken the lead in digitisation by automating its lending process for SMEs through the FCMB Quickloans platform. Through this channel, the lender has disbursed over N100billion in loans to entrepreneurs. It processes over 25,000 digital loans, with disbursements hitting N9billion in a month in the third quarter of 2021.
So far, the Bank has provided over N23 billion loan guarantee support to SMEs with inadequate collateral or those in the start-up stage.
Over 30 financial institutions and technology companies from 10 countries in the Middle East and Africa historically send in entries for adjudication at the annual Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards. Apart from its panel of international assessors, the judging process is supplemented by BankQuality, a premier rating site for financial service providers and customers.
Having transformed successfully into a retail banking and wealth management-led group, FCMB expects to continue to distinguish itself through innovation and the delivery of exceptional services.