NIGERIA’S largest lender in the SME space, Access Bank plc has unveiled an online account opening platform for unregistered businesses.

 NIGERIA’S largest lender in the SME space, Access Bank plc has unveiled an online account opening platform for unregistered businesses.

The online account opening platform is a paperless and seamless digital process that allows customers to register their business accounts within five minutes without visiting a branch. And it is available for anyone above 18 years across Nigeria and the diaspora.

Addressing newsmen during the launching of the online account opening platform, Ayodele Olojede, Group Head, Emerging Businesses, Access Bank Plc said “It is about the millions of local businesses struggling to lay their foundation and growth. As part of our commitment to support entrepreneurs and small business owners, we have created a simple seamless digital platform for individuals to obtain an affordable and flexible account for their unregistered businesses which will give them access to digital loans from N250,000 to N10 million, Access to capacity building programs and training, business registration at a discounted rate for those unregistered businesses, an invitation to link up with investors and build a website with as little as N20,000.

“We believe Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in most economies, particularly in developing countries. SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development. They represent about 90 per cent of businesses and more than 50 per cent of employment worldwide” Ayodele concluded.

He also called on SMEs owners to ensure proper records keeping for their businesses and advised them against mixing business funds with personal expenses as it leads to poor corporate governance and the risk of misappropriation of cash belonging to the business.