FNB Eswatini has disbursed E250 million to support the growth of over 1 000 local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) using its automated scored lending approach.
This was revealed by the bank’s Head of SME banking, Nombuso Mndzebele, during an FNB SME Seminar held at the Eswatini International Trade Fair (EITF) on Friday. The Seminar was attended by over 50 SME owners who were capacitated on various ways to grow their businesses. According to Mndzebele, FNB is committed to continuous innovation to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs.
“Every business deserves the right tools to succeed. We have introduced automated Scored Lending, a solution that uses behavioural data to determine lending facilities for our clients. Through this solution, we have disbursed close to E250m over the past two and a half years to our SME clients, and more than 1,000 SMEs have benefited. It is important that our customers experience us at the level they will be happy with,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dumsani Sikhosana, FNB Eswatini’s Sales Manager, highlighted the bank’s Business Toolkit, a comprehensive support aimed at responding to common challenges faced by SMEs.
“It is important to record all income and expenses, no matter how small. We encourage our SMEs to do this daily, weekly or monthly. In addition, we must separate our personal affairs from our businesses. As a business owner, set aside a standard salary that you will draw from your business,” he said.
Gugu Matiwane, Chief Risk Officer at FNB, urged entrepreneurs to stay vigilant against scammers that may target their businesses. “It is important for us as businesspeople to ensure our safety and avoid falling into scams. Some of the red flags to stay vigilant against include too good to be true deals. If an offer looks too good to be true, it is probably a scam. Another is urgency tactics, where scammers push you to “act fast” before you’ve had time to think. Another one is unusual payment requests. Be wary of sellers asking for gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers. If you get scammed, cancel the card, report it immediately, and contact your bank,” she said.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade’s Philiswa Dlamini highlighted the Ministry’s new MSME Policy, which focuses on five strategic pillars, namely: Business Enabling Environment; Business Support; Human Capital Development; Finance; Markets and Value Chains; Entrepreneurial Culture; and Infrastructure and Technology.
“I encourage you as entrepreneurs to join associations as it makes it easier for you to engage the government,” she said.