First National Bank has been named as the SME Bank of the Year at the Global SME Finance Forum Virtual awards ceremony held on 27 October.

The Global SME Finance Awards 2020 which are endorsed by the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) were organised by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the SME Finance Forum.

FNB was recognised amongst over 100 global participants for its digital innovation, exceptional products and services, as well as the unique and solution-focused manner it approaches challenges facing SMEs as they incubate, start, run and grow their businesses.

The awards were judged by a committee of industry experts, with a specific focus on reach, uniqueness and innovation, effectiveness and impact, as well as dynamism and scalability.

Jacques Celliers, FNB Group CEO says, “we are humbled to receive global recognition as this showcases that the work we are doing for our SME customers is truly adding value. SMEs are important drivers of economic activity, across all corners of society and are often referred to as the ‘backbone’ of economies.

As we continue facing unprecedented economic challenges, coupled with the impact of COVID -19, we are cognisant that the SME sector remains a glimmer of hope in helping our country to create jobs and promote inclusive economic development.”

Commenting on the award, Dominic Adu, CEO of First National Bank Ghana said that it is a true reflection of the hard work and the valuable investments into the development of a value proposition that meets the end-to-end needs of small to medium businesses.

He stated that the First National Bank start, run and grow offering is built on an enterprise business banking platform that offers holistic and integrated financial solutions for small to medium business. All of this is beginning to pay off, and this award is definitely one of the many feathers in our cap as a banking partner.

“A key part of what has distinguished us in recent years as a leader in the SME market points to the core part of our strategy to help develop SMEs by supporting them through all stages of their business journey. First National Bank has invested a lot in developing a business banking platform that offers holistic and integrated financial solutions.

To maintain our market-leading position, it is essential that we continue offering holistic and integrated financial solutions to our diverse business customers while ensuring that our business model continually evolves in line with their changing needs.” added Dominic Adu.

“We take the business of business seriously. From the onset, we realised that we needed to embrace the concept of “customer value creation”. Therefore, by helping our SME customers grow their own businesses, we are also growing our revenues, as well as increasing employment and further spending in the economy,” says Dominic.
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The start, run and grow SME offer also provides businesses with educational materials and information through The Business Toolkit. These tools leverage the bank’s digital platforms, are free to use and have become instrumental in providing the right level of support to businesses during these hard times of COVID-19.

This global award cements First National Bank’s place as a world-class bank and the commitment to provide world-class financial solutions.

First National Bank Ghana is a subsidiary of FirstRand Group of South Africa one of the biggest financial institutions in Africa with a full banking presence in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania.