By Juliet Umeh

Fast-growing financial institution, PecanTrust Microfinance Bank said it has achieved an important milestone in six years of operation with the loan disbursements of N5 billion. 

Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2016, the bank during the celebration of its sixth year said it has been focusing on alleviating poverty by providing access to finance for affordable social infrastructure services, including healthcare, education and housing, and prioritizing women-led businesses. 

Director of the Bank, Mr Taiwo Oshinusi, while expressing his delight in the Bank’s achievements over the past six years of operations, explained that PecanTrust has remained consistent in its focus to increase financial inclusion in Nigeria and reach unbanked customers nationwide. 

He said: “In line with this mission, the bank has designed tailored savings and loan products for these customers such as the Pecan Ajo savings and other Pecan SME finance loans. The bank has also implemented an aggressive strategy to onboard agents and introduce their customers to their agency banking platform nationwide. 

“In addition to its financial inclusion strategy, the Bank recently unveiled its USSD application with value-added features and service delivery levels to the market.

“We are delighted to have had a positive impact through our financial inclusion strategies. About 60 million adults are unbanked in Nigeria, making it the 5th largest country of unbanked citizens globally. 

“So much still needs to be done in the industry to support the CBN towards the achievement of its financial inclusion goals. This is why we have continued to intensify efforts to reach the unbanked and ultimately help alleviate them from poverty. We believe with continuous steps in this direction, we can achieve our objectives”. 

However, to accelerate growth and continue to support these strategic initiatives and improve delivery to customers, Pecantrust has evolved into a hybrid Microfinance business, building on expertise and its experience with the traditional banking business model.

Oshinusi also added that the bank is poised to launch its digital application in a few months to scale its business and reach a wider customer base while providing access to cheaper, faster, reliable financial services. 

He stated: “Pecantrust Microfinance Bank offers diversified savings and loan products and continues developing new products to meet market demand.”