CBN grants license to GABSYN Microfinance Bank

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted GABSYN Microfinance Bank the final approval to operate as a Microfinance Bank in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Gabsyn MFB announces the receipt of a letter from the CBN conveying the final approval to commence operations, Mr. Waheed Odekale, the Bank’s Managing Director, said recently.
With this approval, Gabsyn MFB joins over 876 licensed Microfinance banks to operate in that space, to deliver the much needed financial services to the unbanked. According to EFInA (2020 survey), about 35.9 percent of the adult population, representing 38 million citizens, do not have access to financial services in Nigeria.

As a partner in the actualization of the objectives of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), Gabsyn MFB affirms its commitment towards creating a better everyday life for all stakeholders in line with the financial inclusion agenda of the CBN and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and we are excited at this opportunity to support its fulfilment.

The Bank is well positioned in a strategic location in Ikorodu where it can use its well-trained, motivated, young and dynamic staff as well as its experienced management team to design and offer flexible, value-adding and sustainable financial services to the communities. There are millions of Nigerians who are yet to tap into the immense benefits available in the financial sector because they are currently excluded, Nairametrics reports.

Gabsyn MFB will open a viable avenue for all to access a broad range of financial and social services such as loans, savings, alternate payment services, money transfers, improve financial literacy, etc, some directly and others through strategic partnerships.

Microfinance Banks (MFBs) are critical to Nigeria’s financial inclusion goals, particularly because of their role in providing financial services to the underserved segments of the Nigerian economy. In a demonstration of its acknowledgment of the importance of the sector, The Nigerian government launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 (NFIS 2012), to achieve 80% inclusion by 2020. The NFIS was reviewed in 2012, and the CBN and its stakeholders came up with the Revised NFIS document which targets a 95% financial inclusion threshold in Nigeria by 2024. This is ambitious given that the financial inclusion index moved from 57.3% in 2010 to 60.3% in 2012 and 63.2% in 2020, a growth of about 5.9% in 10 years. Achieving a 31.8% increment in 4 years is indeed ambitious, but not impossible.

According to the Managing Director of Gabsyn MFB, Mr. Waheed Odekale, ‘’Our mission is to use simple financial solutions, strategic alliances and partnerships to improve the socio economic status of our stakeholders. Our services will empower low-income households, enhance their productive capacity and consolidate their economic base. We are very excited by the opportunity to be practically and productively driving the financial inclusion agenda of the Central bank of Nigeria’’.

Adeniyi explained that the company has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past seven years because of its focus on customers, investment in technology and quality healthcare delivery. He furthered that even in the face of growing uncertainties in the market, AXA Mansard Health will remain committed to its customers.

According to him: “the economic environment has really been challenging and as the biggest player in the Health Insurance space, we are probably the most impacted. As inflation was growing, the cost of care was rising with it. But rather than reneging on our commitment to customers like most providers are doing, we decided to stay true to our words and our value customer-first, even when this commitment comes at a cost to us”.

“We now sitting down with our customers to review the situation and because of the sacrifices we have made on their behalf, the conversation around pricing services have been much more fruitful. We expect to start seeing the impact of these discussions from Q4, 2022“, Adeniyi explained.

He noted that the commitment from customers stems from the different cost-optimization solutions the company presented to them.

“We didn’t just go to our customers and say inflation is high, we need to reprice our services accordingly. No. We leveraged our prior investment in technology to optimize cost everywhere possible. So by the time we presented to our customers, they saw us as that partner deeply understanding and commitmented to them. So the conversation is easier“.

“And to also add more value to them, we are introducing new add-ons to our services. We have entered into amazing new partnerships, particularly around wellness and preventive health and our digitization projects in telemedicine, health records, mental health services amongst others are some added benefits. So if you look at it, even with our new approach to cost, our customers will still get more“.

“We have also partnered with state government to distribute state health insurance schemes in alignment with NHIA act which will give more Nigerians access to affordable care”

Furthermore, our “MyAXA Plus” has been very well received because it provides a much improved, seamless, and satisfying experience that puts users at the heart of every feature and action on the app.

The AXA Mansard Health CEO said the company’s winning strategy has been stopping at nothing to serve its customers. While this may impact its finances momentarily, its track record and clear strategy are profound.

The company’s premiums increased from 8.96 billion (the half year 2020) to 10.3 billion (the half year 2021) to 12.4 billion (the half year 2022), a 15% and 21% growth, respectively.

Though the company’s half-year report shows that claims have risen owing to medical inflation and utilization, the business has continued to rise to the challenges.

“We expect to begin to see an adjustment from October till year end as we account for the economic situation on our premiums“, Adeniyi concluded.