FirstBank announces plan to supports schools with Educational Solutions

First Bank of Nigeria Limited said it is supporting schools with an array of educational-based products and solutions targeted at enabling the acquisition of various facilities to boost the continuous expansion and improvement of the educational sector.

In addition, the bank said it has bespoke products which empowers parents and guardians to meet the educational needs of their children.

According to a statement, the bank’s educational products and solutions include the FirstEdu Loan, Operational Vehicle Loan, Term Loans for constructing new sites and extension of existing sites, Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) and FirstAdvance which enhances Parents/Guardians’ capacity to pay their wards’ school fees.
It explained: “The FirstEdu loan offers short-term finance to private pre-primary, primary and secondary schools/ registered A level educational institutions with steady flow of income.

“The product offers opportunity for private schools to access flexible funding to meet urgent cash flow needs, replace old furniture and equipment or assets, purchase of fairly-used school buses, as well as refurbishing dilapidated buildings and classroom blocks.

“This product helps school owners/proprietors in bridging the “no-income” gap between school terms, and to enhance diverse assets acquisition.

“It allows schools access up to N20 million with no tangible collateral required apart from the domiciliation of school fees with the bank.”

According to the statement, schools with CAC registration that are yet to get Ministry of Education approval can access up to N2 million without collateral for up to 90 days.

In a bid to cushion the effect of covid-19 pandemic, the bank is in partnership with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) to finance low-cost private schools at a single digit interest rate where schools can access up to N5 million.

The bank said it is also in partnership with the apex association of private school owners in Nigeria, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to finance member schools at a highly competitive rate.

This, it stated reduces the cost of borrowing to the customer and eliminates the challenges posed by the provision of additional demanding collaterals.

“The Operational Vehicle Loan is targeted at registered businesses. It allows the entrepreneur to acquire brand new vehicles for the day to day operation of the business.

“Organisations can take advantage of this facility to purchase school buses in the case of school proprietors and even upscale their staff welfare schemes through provision of staff buses. The product terms and conditions is competitive.

“Personal Loan against Salary (PLAS) offers customers in paid employment access to cash to meet immediate financial needs such as payment of school fees, medical treatment, holiday expenses, etc. PLAS has a flexible repayment plan spread up to 48 months for our customers’ convenience. There is no equity contribution or collateral requirement.

“FirstAdvance is a 30days tenured digital loan also available to salary customers who are in need of assistance to meet immediate financial needs. It empowers customers to access up to 50 per cent of their net monthly salary in less than a minute at any desired time by dialing *894*11# or through our FirstMobile App.”

Speaking on the bank’s support for schools, FirstBank’s Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products, Mr. Chuma Ezirim, said, “at FirstBank, we recognise the indelible roles the educational sector plays in promoting national economic development and we are delighted to support schools with collateral free educational solutions to meet various needs and projects to advance to the next level.

“As schools proceed with the new term, we enjoin interested schools to visit the nearest branch or the bank’s website for more information and encourage everyone to access our e-learning driven initiatives to keep learning and get exposed to various opportunities to stay ahead in today’s technologically advanced world.”