FNB wins Best SME Bank in SA and Africa award

As small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tackle pandemic-induced challenges, First National Bank’s (FNB) approach to helping them is being recognised on the global stage.

The bank was named the Best SME Bank in SA and Africa at the Global Finance SME Bank Awards 2021. It also received an honourable mention in the Best Bank for Women Entrepreneurs category at the Global SME Finance Awards 2021.

“We are humbled to be recognised for helping our clients with platform-based capabilities for ‘ease of doing business,'" says Jacques Celliers, FNB CEO.

“Our success in the SME market stems from our ability to innovate and deliver meaningful solutions that truly address the day-to-day challenges of starting, running and growing a business.

“This ranges from helping an entrepreneur register a business, open a bank account, make and accept payments and retrieve financial statements to assisting them in unlocking opportunities in credit, insurance and investments through our big data capabilities.”

“Through our world-class interfaces such as the FNB App and Online Banking Enterprises, we cater for the entire SME value chain —  including clients with side hustles,” Celliers says.

“As businesses are increasingly relying on digital, we are proud to be enabling our clients to manage their profiles and administration, authentication and fraud prevention on our trusted digital platform.”

FNB’s ability to keep abreast of the needs of businesses is demonstrated through its ever-expanding ecosystem. The bank’s rapidly growing digital marketplace on the FNB App gives businesses that provide home and professional services access to a market of over 4-million potential customers.

Furthermore, FNB provides free business support through digital tools such as Fundaba, where clients can learn about entrepreneurship and how to run a business.

The bank also invests vast resources in, and collaborates with, like-minded partners to support women-owned or led businesses.

“For more than 183 years, we’ve remained committed to continuously supporting our clients through ups and downs on their business journey. Despite the challenges in the operating environment, the agility of our platform business enables us to consistently deliver contextual services to support our clients,” says Celliers.

This article was paid for by FNB.