Small and medium scale enterprises are expected to benefit from competition for products as banks try to get the unbanked element accounted for.
This would ultimately mean that someone selling fish and cassava in Suva or women selling bilum bags in Port Moresby will benefit from learning how to use their money from their small sales and turning that cash into more cash using the banks’ microfinance programmes.
Long serving commercial bank Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has combined its Fiji rural banking service with microfinance activities to allow customers with small scale businesses to apply for loans to improve their livelihood.
“Reincorporating microfinance loans into our existing rural banking service reflects the importance we place on allowing our customers to grow their businesses and income which leads to great prosperity for Fiji communities,” said ANZ Fiji CEO Norman Wilson.
The ANZ micro-credit loan of between $100 and $1000 has a loan term of up to 12 months. It is available for individual customers 21 years and above who earn less than $7,500 per year or married couples whose combined income does not exceed $7,500 per year.
“Through the reintroduction of microfinance loans, we are complying with the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s new policy on financial inclusion.
“We’ve incorporated strict guidelines and conditions for these loans to ensure we’re lending the right amount of money to the right people for initiatives that will drive economic prosperity,” said  Wilson.
ANZ is the only commercial bank in the Pacific that offers a rural banking service. The rural banking service started in Fiji in 2004 and now provides regular banking services to 300 villages, settlements and communities, and more than 170 schools across Fiji.
Services offered through ANZ’s rural banking service include opening savings accounts; deposit and withdrawal transactions; financial literacy sessions and the provision of microfinance loans.
ANZ’s rural banking service was recently recognised in a report by the United Nations, ‘Financial Capability and Wellbeing in Rural Fijian Households’, which found the wellbeing of rural Fijians had improved due to the provision of banking services.
“ANZ acknowledges the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s initiative and the continued support of donor organisations and partners such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAID which are some of the agencies providing assistance in the development of microfinance services in Fiji and the Pacific,” Wilson said.
Established in 1880, ANZ is the largest bank in Fiji with 16 branches including three Prime Offices (Suva, Nadi and Lautoka), 74 ATMs (Automated Teller Machines), 912 merchants and 1052 EFTPOS terminals.
At the time of its launch in October 2004, it was estimated that almost half of Fiji’s population was ‘unbanked’ or didn’t have access to regular banking services.
“We entered into a partnership with UNDP, through its Pacific Sustainable Livelihoods Programme where UNDP provided basic financial literacy and enterprise development skills to the villagers while ANZ provided the banking services until 2006 when UNDP ceased with the financial literacy programme.
“Our services include mobile banking with regular schedules to villages, schools and communities in the rural areas
“In April 2009, the Reserve Bank of Fiji took a proactive role in the development of microfinance in Fiji. The RBF views microfinance and financial literacy and SME development as mechanisms through which to economically empower and improve the standard of living of low income and poor people in Fiji.
“Following this initiative by the RBF, ANZ reviewed its operations and we’re now integrating Microfinance with our Rural Banking services.
“This integrated approach recognises the importance we place in developing microfinance services for rural communities but also for customers anywhere in Fiji who have a need to borrow funds for small scale business ventures and development and improvement of their livelihood.”
The bank has reviewed the guidelines and conditions for the ANZ microfinance loan based on the bank’s previous experiences to ensure its lending the right amount of money to the right people for initiatives that will drive economic prosperity.