By Chinwendu Obienyi
Without adequate financial services, it is said that individuals and companies can not fully participate in the economy. This makes financial inclusion an essential key element of social inclusion that translates to a better economy.
This is because financial inclusion connotes all initiatives that make formal financial services accessible and affordable, primarily to low-income people.
In recent years, financial inclusion has been perceived as a dynamic tool for attaining multidimensional macroeconomic stability, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, employment generation, poverty reduction, and income equality for advanced and developing countries alike.
Sadly, these developing countries especially Nigeria have seen quite a huge number of unbanked population.
Apparently not satisfied with the number of unbanked people in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sought to ensure that all eligible Nigerians have access to basic financial services, like savings account, and insurance, citing the alarming statistics of the country’s unbanked population, which currently makes up three per cent of the world’s unbanked population.
Also, the CBN, tasked financial institutions operating in the country to play a central role in boosting the phenomenon through policies that raise human capital.
Stating the importance of this drive for financial inclusion is stating the obvious, as Nigeria currently ranks poorly among other economies in the world.
According to the EFInA’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 survey, a third of Nigerians still use informal financial services to manage some of their financial needs. The survey also revealed that the number of adults using informal services increased by 5.3 million between 2018 and 2020.
With the Nigerian adult population standing at 106 million and mobile phone users of 81 per cent, it was expected that the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy target of 95 per cent by 2024 would be nearing its target. However, it is standing at 64 per cent.
One of the critical aspects that have been highlighted as a major drawback in achieving the desired financial inclusion rate in Nigeria is the lack of a healthy, sustainable savings culture among the people, leading to appalling long-term financial sustainability positions.
However, one financial institution -Fidelity Bank Plc – is doing all it can to help Nigerians cultivate a sustainable and healthy savings habit.
Fidelity Bank, with its innovative strategies in fostering financial inclusivity following the CBN’s mandate, climbed on its innovative “Get Alert in Millions campaign (GAIM)” to reward loyal customers and also encourage a savings habit that would be beneficial in the long term.
The savings promo, which was launched in 2016, has so far earned praise for its impact and the many lives it is changing and now in its fifth season, N125 million is up for grabs in cash prizes.
Daily Sun investigations reveal that in July 2021, when the curtains were drawn on the fourth season of the savings promo, at least 15 Nigerians emerged winners of total cash prizes of N39 million and other consolation prizes.
It is, therefore, no surprise that since Fidelity Bank announced the new season of the Campaign a little over a month ago, a total of N2 million has been doled out to 200 lucky customers as a weekly consolation giveaway out of the N125 million up for grabs this season.
Winners’ react
One of the two winners of the N10 million grand prize in the GAIM Season 4, Sunday Okechukwu Okeke, spoke about the huge impact the sum has had on his spare parts business.
Okechukwu, who is still elated about being a lucky one out of millions of qualified customers in the draw, said “I was able to use the money for the importation of goods. My business is good now and I can say the money has greatly impacted my life.”
He went on to reveal that since his win, he has been on a mission to encourage his friends and colleagues to participate in the GAIM promo’s subsequent seasons.
How to participate
The latest edition of the savings promo is characterized by its easy participation criteria and higher chances for participants to win. Both existing and new customers of Fidelity Bank are required to deposit a minimum of N2,000 in any of their Fidelity Bank savings accounts to win in the promo. Every N2,000 one saves gives the person a ticket entry – which means, the more ticket one has, the more chances of winning in the promo.
In this edition, at least N2,000 deposit in a customer’s account and a debit card qualify one for the weekly consolation draws to win N10,000. Likewise, customers with a minimum of two tickets which translate to N4,000 deposit and a debit card qualify a customer for the monthly draw to win N1 million; while customers with a minimum of 10 tickets which translate to N20,000 deposits, and a debit card would get to feature in the grand draws for a chance to win N2 million, N5 million and N10 million.
Dr. Ken Opara, Fidelity Bank’s Executive Director, Lagos & South-West, has expressed confidence that the GAIM Campaign would continue to achieve its mission to improve the savings habits among Nigerians while enriching them at the same time.
He said: “We are thrilled about the savings culture this initiative will drive. Over the years, we have seen that many customers and hitherto non-customers have increased their savings by simply keying into the GAIM promo and we believe that this season will not be an exception.”
On his part, Osita Ede, the bank’s Divisional Head, Product Development, has said the GAIM Season 5 offers more promise for every participant.
Understandably, there is palpable excitement among stakeholders, observers, and participants, like Okechukwu, that many more Nigerians will reap an upgrade in their financial standing when the grand draws are held in July 2022.
The Get Alert in Millions Season 5 Campaign is the 11th savings promotional campaign and 5th in the series of the Get Alert in Millions organized by Fidelity Bank in the last 16 years, and previous editions have seen at least 77 Nigerians become millionaires simply by maintaining good savings habits.
Aside from the savings promotional campaigns, the bank has doled out over N4.1 billion to 10,280 through the savings loyalty scheme reward to Fidelity Personal Savings Account and Fidelity Sweet Account holders.
Conclusion
Having identified savings as being critical to fostering financial inclusion among all Nigerians for the greater purpose of achieving individual and national economic development, Fidelity Bank is impressively leading the charge to bring CBN’s dream to reality