FDH Bank intensifies its financial inclusion drive
BY WILLIAM KUMWEMBE:
One of the country’s commercial banks, FDH Bank, has reiterated its commitment to contributing towards the national financial inclusion drive and extending its reach to the unbanked population of the country.
This comes as the number of Malawians owning bank accounts has almost doubled from a million in early 2017 to about two million as at May 2018.
FDH Bank Managing Director, Eric Ouatarra, said the bank has designed various products and services that would help reach out to the unbanked it countrywide.
He was speaking in Ntcheu District at the unveiling of a new financial solution the bank is offering through the Social Cash Transfer protection programme.
The bank signed a four-year contract with the Ministry of Gender to provide an e-payment service to beneficiaries at 93 paypoints across the district.
The project is reaching out to the ultra-poor and labour constrained households and providing them with financial support to improve their living standards.
“Financial inclusion is one of our focus areas as a bank, and we have demonstrated this not only through the Social Cash Transfer programme but also through the development of banking products and services that are accessible in rural and remote areas,” Ouattarra said.
He said the FDH Bank platform is integrated with all major players in Malawi to ensure smooth operations of social cash transfers through channels like OneClick.
Other products the bank introduced include FDH Mobile, FDH wallet, BankiPakhomo and Ufulu Digital Account that allows customers to open an account on their mobile phone.
Minister of Gender, Jean Kalilani, who graced the occasion, commended FDH Bank for introducing the e-payment solution.
