Olusola Bello
Access Bank Plc plans to surpass its 2020 record in terms of loans as the bank pushes out more digital loans. It has already given out N100 million to four million beneficiaries.
To achieve this, the bank has launched the Diamond Business Advantage (DBA) Lite to address the challenges of accessing digital loans for youth entrepreneurs.
Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Access Bank Plc Banking, Retail while speaking during the launching of the product in Lagos, said entrepreneurship is essential for the growth of any nation.
According to him, the new product is a variant of DBA (TraderLite) specifically designed for young entrepreneurs and it is a current account designed to add value to Micro, Small and medium businesses (MSMEs) and cause business growth via smart banking.
He outlined that the features of the product include less documentation, affordability, convenience, access to market, access to finance, access to business loans and access to payment acceptance services.
Etuokwu noted that the digital loan will be from N50,000 to N5 million and the entrepreneurs can only access the loan once they meet the requirements.
DBA Lite he said is a product of the erstwhile Diamond bank via the Diamond Business Account (DBA) and that was one of the best products in the market but after the merger, we renamed it as DBA, but this innovation; DBA Lite is targeted for the youths who are start-ups, established or growing. “This innovation will bring access to digital loans for the youths because that is what we want to do with this innovation,”
According to him, Access Bank accounts for over 50 per cent of digital loans in the industry because it is giving these loans at an average of N18,000 to N20,000 daily.
“Last year, four million people accessed N100 billion and we are targeting more in 2021. We are growing and we will keep growing because our digital loans are not for the youths only but for small business owners, employees and the rest of them and I am assuring you that we will do double digit this year as that is the plan. As we speak, we are averaging N12 to N13 billion every month and so we should be somewhere around N60 to N70 billion and clearly, we will do more than we did last year,” Etuokwu said.
