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He said with an operational department dedicated to the SME sector, the bank had put in place a flexible documentation scheme to ensure small businesses reeling under financial challenges were not unnecessarily overburdened in their quest to seek funding for business growth.
Segmentation
The General Manager in charge of Client Service at the bank, Mr John Kweku Asamoah, hinted that with the segmentation of the bank's SME support funding into three main categories, customers could access facilities ranging from GH¢1,000 to GHC¢5,000 within a 24-hour processing period.
"Clients that fall within this category do not require any form of security or collateral before facility is granted, however, customers are advised to ensure they have daily cash buildups to cater for recoveries," Mr Asamoah explained.
However, clients looking for facilities ranging from GH¢10,000 to GH¢200,000 would be required to put in place a collateral to be able to access the SME facility.
Recovery Risk
Mr Asamoah hinted that following the risks associated with recoveries within the SME sector, the bank had put in place the daily and weekly recovery programmes.
"In doing this, not only are we limiting our risk to the area of recovery but also providing convenient banking services for our clients," Mr Asamoah stressed.
"We have identified that many small business holders may not necessarily have the luxury of time to temporarily vacate their shops for the banking hall to enable them do daily and weekly deposits in line with the repayment policy. It is for this reason that we have engaged the services of direct sales assistants who go to shops and table shops for daily and weekly recoveries," Mr Asamoah added.
The Public Relations Manager of NIB, Mr Charles Wordey, on his part, expressed regret that people in the informal sector had turned their backs to patronising traditional banking services owing to the stress associated with facility acquisition.
Mr Wordey was, however, hopeful the alternatives being offered by the bank to customers in the informal sector would encourage entrepreneurial drive among young people to contribute their quota to community development.
Writer's email: delarussel@gmail.com
