BoI rolls out repayment scratch-cards for TraderMoni, MarketMoni loans
Posted by FN Editor | 5 years ago | 1,690 times
The Bank of Industry (BoI) has begun the roll-out of its voucher-based loan repayment recharge cards for the Government Empowerment and Enterprise Programme (GEEP) TraderMoni, MarketMoni, and FarmerMoni loans. Through a flexible loan repayment plan of N430 per week paid over six months or N860 per week paid over three months, TraderMoni beneficiaries can use the cards to pay back their loans and qualify for the next loan of N15,000. When they pay that back, they graduate to the N20,000 stage, and then they ultimately graduate into the MarketMoni programme where they can get up to N100,000.
The GEEP of the Federal Government has enabled easy access to finance and working capital for as many as 1.7 million traders across the country since it started in 2016. These loans are part of the Federal Government’s plan to broaden financial inclusion at the base of the pyramid, and spur economic growth at the grass- roots.
However, the challenge with last-mile credit delivery is that it is last-mile. The Executive Director, Micro Enterprises Division at BoI, Mrs. Toyin Adeniji, noted that most of the beneficiaries stay kilometers away from the nearest banks. So, while the ability to pay back the loans at any commercial bank in the country via pay-direct works well for traders in urban centres, their counter- parts in Nigeria’s remote markets have often had to walk long distances to pay back theirs.
This led the Federal Government, through BoI’s Micro-Enterprises Division, to develop voucher-based repayment scratchcards that can be sold, and loaded the same way regular Telco recharge cards are sold and loaded: a beneficiary buys the TraderMoni loan repayment voucher for the amount they wish to pay back, and loads it on their mobile phone using the USSD shortcode on the card. This automatically credits the beneficiary’s loan account and updates their loan position. They also get an SMS notification that they have repaid their loan to the value of the loaded voucher.
Beneficiaries who complete this process and pay back their loans automatically qualify for the next loan level.
The GEEP products are tools for Nigerian traders to build their credit ratings so that, even without col- lateral, their credit history will make them appealing to traditional lenders. Many traders have recognised this opportunity and have begun graduating up the GEEP loan levels.
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