Sterling Bank launches Business Support Facility for MSMEs
Sterling Bank Plc has launched a Business Support Facility for operators of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSME) in the country by setting aside N50 billion to fund clusters.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos recently, the Group Head, Retail Assets and Liability, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Benedicta Sadoh, noted the importance of small and medium business enterprises to the economy.
She said this was confirmed by several surveys and research conducted by the bank before the launch of the SME Banking Project.
She also said the new product comes with flexible interest rates, adding that customers could access from N5 million to N20 million in loans for non-collateral and collateral loans respectively. Also the new product would give customers access to funds in 48 hours.
Sadoh said: “The Business Support Facility is targeted at businesses that generate cash flow daily and the rental is monthly.
“The scheme does not have a fixed interest rate because it is based on a digital score card which is a scoring process where information about the prospective customer is used to determine the applicable interest based on his financial worth.
“The bank has set aside about N50 billion to meet the urgent needs of existing and potential customers in the SMEs space before the end of the year.
“MSMEs have a lot of challenges to contend with, particularly in the area of access to finance, adding that in line with the vision of the bank of impacting lives and developing solutions, Sterling Bank has developed a scheme known as the Business Support Facility.”
She further said the scheme was targeted at entrepreneurs to access loans to meet their urgent business needs and is payable over an extended period of 24 months.
Sadoh further added: “The maximum amount of loan a customer with collateral could get is N20 million while those without collateral could get up to N5 million and the processing time is 48 hours and with minimal documentation.”
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