Yemisi Izuora
FirstBank has unveiled a service called ‘FirstEdu educational solution’, specifically designed to support schools in need of improvement and growth in meeting their medium and long-term goals.
A statement from the bank said the FirstEdu product comprised FirstEdu portal and FirstEdu loan.
“FirstEdu loan is targeted at private nursery and primary, secondary and A-levels schools. The product offers opportunity for private schools to access flexible funding to meet urgent cash flow needs, replace old furniture and equipment, as well as refurbish dilapidated buildings and classroom blocks.
“With this product, school owners/proprietors can stay ahead of competition in providing educational services and support to the target population by maintaining acceptable standard infrastructure at all times.”
It added that the product enables customers to access up to N20m facility with no tangible collateral, apart from having school fees account with the bank.
This is said to reduce the cost of borrowing to the customer and eliminates the challenges posed by the provision of additional demanding collaterals.
The statement added, “On the other hand, FirstEdu portal is a robust web-based enterprise portal that enables educational institutions (private nursery and primary, secondary, A-level schools and tertiary institutions) manage academic, administrative, professional, logistics and payment challenges. The basis for its robustness is to take the stress of logistics and payment challenges off schools, as they focus on meeting the year-long and medium-term objectives of their school(s).”