CBN Commends Sterling Bank, Osun’s Support for FI Scheme

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has commended Sterling Bank Plc and the Osun State Government, for their roles in deepening agent banking and Financial Inclusion (FI) initiatives.

This commendation came, even as the apex bank advised other financial institutions to ensure that more Nigerians currently unbanked are brought into the financial services net.

Olushola Agboola, assistant director of Payment Policy and Oversight Banking Payment System at CBN, who conveyed the message at the workshop organized for Banks and Other Financial Institutions on financial inclusion and agent banking, in Oshogbo, Osun State, also called for more to be done to ensure wider reach.
 
As fallout of the agent banking scheme, which Sterling Bank launched in Lagos last year and extended to Osun, the financial institution has empowered over 100 indigenes of the state.

The bank’s Head of Financial Inclusion, Richard Osungboye, said with collaborative efforts between CBN and the state government, the percentage of rural people yet to be captured in the financial system will reduce significantly.

He particularly commended the state government’s plan to adopt the “Cooperative Model” for the establishment of microfinance banks as approved by CBN.

“Further plans of the government include collaborating with the microfinance institutions and banks to increase the number of Point-of Sales and Automated Teller Machines in all the 30 local government areas, encourage civil servants and other individuals or companies that do business with it to use available financial institutions and establishment of Entrepreneurship Development Centers across the state,” he stated.

However, Oshungboye pointed out that conducting regular seminars on financial inclusion, regular monitoring of the implementation of various programmes in all states of the federation and undertaking necessary reviews will go a long way to achieving the goal of ensuring that larger percentage of our population are captured under the financial inclusion programme.

He assured that the bank will continue to take its agent banking to rural areas to ensure wider coverage and financial inclusion.

Osungboye reiterated that agent banking is the cheapest means of accessing financial services with lower transaction cost, explaining that the scheme avails customers services, which are more accessible for the less educated, very poor and less privileged who might feel intimidated in traditional bank branches.