FirstBank supports SMEs with bouquet of offerings

Consistent with its continued support for the sustainable development of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors of the Nigerian Economy, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc and Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, has unveiled its new proposition to its customers with the ‘We Can Help With That’ campaign.

The proposition was developed to demonstrate how FirstBank is positioned to help businesses grow and expand. The Bank has over the years displayed an unwavering commitment to the business success of SMEs in Nigeria with its cocktail of products and bespoke solutions, specifically designed to help grow and sustain SMEs. Given that SMEs are pivotal to national development, FirstBank has shown full understanding and is committed to ensure continued business growth providing the necessary services to grow businesses and Nigeria’s economy at large.

With a heritage of over 120 years of banking experience, FirstBank started small and has grown through various stages, gathering the desired wealth of experience to understands the business journey for SMEs and is passionate about supporting them to ensure continued business growth.

From the Education Sector to Services, Trading, Manufacturing and Distributorship, FirstBank support services will ensure you have access to the right financial tools. Some of the Bank’s interventions for SMEs include Overdraft for working capital, Operational vehicles loans; e.g. School Bus, delivery vans Equipment Finance, Commercial Building Loan, Education Management Portal, Contract & LPO Finance, Invoice Discounting Finance, Import Finance, Bonds & Guarantees, Bill & Tax Payments, Bulk Payment & Collections Solutions, e-Commerce Platforms, Non-Oil Export Financing,  Domestic Money Transfers, Zero COT Accounts, Non-Oil Export Financing, Import Finance Facility, Key Distributorship Finance (Cement, Telco, FMCGs), among several other products.


According to the FirstBank’s spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney, businesses require more than loans, and the bank makes available non- financial services to its customers such as access to administrative assistance, translation services, conferences, seminars, forums and other business support services. “We are determined to pass on our own expertise and knowledge to small businesses across several sectors in Nigeria. Our experience in business spans several industries and segments. We understand the position most of our SME’s are in simply because we can relate and provide valuable solutions. We care about the path to success for our customers, we have walked this path and have developed solutions to ensure that the road to success is as stable as can be for our customers”

“Additionally, because we understand that each business and sector is unique, our customers are assigned Relationship Managers that have good knowledge of their sector and business environment, providing you with the best, most relevant advice. They are also empowered to expose you to and take advantage of other opportunities within the bank. Our Relationship Managers provide industry specific knowledge and expertise to help guide your business through the expansion vision our SME customers have for their businesses.” she further enthused.

FirstBank is committed to the success of SMEs and has through many years groomed SMEs into large corporations.  Some of the Bank’s support programmes for SMEs include African Start-Up on CNN, a sponsored TV documentary on CNN showcasing SME success stories across Africa; Ignite (an afterschool graduate employability and enterprise training initiative); Sponsorship of SME Radio Programme, The Economy & You, SME conferences and seminars across various states in Nigeria as well as the SMEConnect website which is at the heart of FirstBank’s SME activities. The website www.firstbanknigeria.com/smeconnect  provides resource materials and serves as a channel to obtain feedback from customers as well as communicate the Bank’s products and services targeted at SMEs.