By Rukayat Moisemhe
Access Bank Plc has unveiled an online account opening platform for unregistered businesses.
Mrs Ayodele Olojede, Group Head, Emerging Businesses, Access Bank Plc, made this known at the product launch on Thursday in Lagos.
Olojede noted that the move was in line with the bank’s goal to maintain its stand as Nigeria’s largest lender in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) space.
According to her, the online account opening platform is a paperless and seamless digital process which allows customers to register their business account within five minutes without visiting a branch.
Olojede said that the product was available for anyone above 18 years across Nigeria and the Diaspora.
“It is about the millions of local businesses struggling to lay their foundation and growth.
“As part of our commitment to support entrepreneurs and small business owners, we have created a simple seamless digital platform for individuals to obtain an affordable and flexible account for their unregistered businesses.
“This will give them access to digital loans from N250,000 to N10 million, access to capacity building programmes and trainings.
“It also provides business registration at a discounted rate for those unregistered businesses, invitation to link up with investors and build a website with as little as N20,000.
“We believe and support SMEs for the major role they play in most economies, particularly in developing countries,” she said.
She noted that SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide as well as important contributors to job creation and global economic development.
“They represent about 90 per cent of businesses and more than 50 per cent of employment worldwide,” Oloyede added.
She called on SMEs owners to ensure proper record keeping for their businesses.
Olojede also advised them against mixing business funds with personal expenses, as it leads to poor corporate governance and risk of misappropriation of cash belonging to the business.(NAN)
