Access Bank: Empowering Women In A Unique Way

Access Bank Plc is empowering Small and Medium Enterprises owned and managed by women through a unique product tagged the ‘Access Bank W Initiative’.

The W initiative is helping to create an enabling business environment for women SMEs, by putting together an innovative bundle of offerings designed to support many areas of business during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bank, in a statement, described the initiative as a pioneer proposition to promote women’s economic empowerment in Africa with over a decade of active participation in creating and supporting the Women’s Market across its focus segment. As the forerunner of the gender-focused initiative in the industry, The W initiative is demonstration of the Bank’s support for women.

The bundled offerings include, among others:

The introduction of the ‘W’ Webinar Series
Implementation of a 90-day moratorium and extension on all existing loans to SMEs owned and manged by women, without penal charge
Introduction of the bespoke business debit card, and
The creation of an e-commerce enabled website to enhance the digital presence for female owned businesses.

Explaining the objectives of the innovative idea and the need for the bank to support SMEs with a focus on women owned businesses, the Group Head, Women Banking at Access Bank Plc, Ayona Aguele-Trimnell, said that the bank was “mainly committed to drive women’s economic empowerment in the markets we serve. We are also actively involved in supporting women-owned businesses to thrive through this period, by leveraging digital platforms to sell their goods and services, providing alternate channels of banking as well as easing the burden of loan repayment while considering the impact of the global pandemic on SMEs.”

She stated that Access Bank has adopted virtual platforms to ensure that women-owned SMEs are provided with an enabling environment to thrive and continue their businesses in spite the global pandemic, stressing that “Access Bank has an unflinching commitment to empower women and contribute immensely to the growth of the women market in Nigeria and beyond for accelerated social and economic growth”.