Firstmonie Agents, agent banking network of First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., have collectively processed transaction volume in excess of one billion, amounting to over N22 trillion.

The financial services were carried out in 22 trillion transactions by over 180,000 Firstmonie agents spread across the 772 local government areas.

Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

“Firstmonie Agents have been integral to bringing financial services closer to the underbanked and unbanked segment of the society.

“Our agent banking network provides convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the suburbs and remote environments with no access to financial services.

“Popularly referred to as the ‘Human ATM’, Firstmonie Agents are empowered to reduce the reliance on over-the-counter transactions while providing convenient personalised services.

“Amongst the services carried out by the agents include; account opening, cash deposit, airtime purchase, bills payment, withdrawals and money transfer.

“Through various empowerment and reward schemes implemented to put its Firstmonie Agents at an advantage to economically impact their immediate communities, whilst importantly having their business sustained,” she said.

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Ani-Mumuney also said that the bank’s agent banking scheme remains a toast to Nigerians, irrespective of where they are in the country.

She said that one of the schemes, Agent Credit, launched in 2020, had helped the bank to provide credit facilities worth N238 billion to its Firstmonie Agents.

Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, said, “Since the relaunch of our agent banking scheme in 2018, our Firstmonie Agents have played a vital role in bridging the financial inclusion gap in the country.

“It has allowed many more people the ability to undertake various financial and business transactions in cost-effective ways, thereby saving a lot of time and money in travelling over long distances for basic banking services.

“We are delighted by the giant strides of our Firstmonie Agents in promoting financial inclusion.

“We commend them for their efforts in taking banking to the doorsteps of Nigerians, irrespective of where they are, in a very effective way,” he said.

The Star