NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

A COMMERCIAL bank, First Bank Plc, yesterday said it has put in place a set of incentives, including scholarships, that would encourage young Nigerians, particularly students, to voluntarily embrace savings culture and by extension, help drive financial inclusion project as championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

First Bank, which is one of the Nigerian deposit money banks partnering the CBN on financial literacy in schools and has thus adopted several schools nationwide to teach young students financial issues, said the project is also in partnership with Junior Achievement Nigeria.

It said: “We intend to provide incentives to students, especially by identifying those benefits that will make it attractive for them to work into a bank and willingly open an account. “This may include giving scholarships and also learning materials like books and so on.”

First Bank Group Head, Abuja 4 North Directorate, Muntari Zubairu, who stated this at the weekend when educating students of Maitama Model Secondary School, Abuja, on how money works, explained that financial literacy campaign is one of those strategies the bank has adopted not only to raise awareness on CBN’s cashless policy but reasonably increase financial inclusion levels in the country by educating particularly the children and youths about how money works.