By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
NIRSAL Microfinance bank (NMFB) has denied an allegation that its staff diverted an Agri-Business Small & Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan of N5 million.
The bank said in a statement by the Corporate Communications Halima Umar alleging that the bank misappropriated N5 million in respect to an AGSMEIS loan beneficiary “is far from the truth.”
The statement explained that it was a rare case of swap of phone numbers with similar names in 2019 when full automation had not been deployed.
“The phone numbers of two applicants bearing the same name (Rebecca Daniel and Rebecca Zamari Daniel) exchanged places during the disbursement process. Incidentally, both had AGSMEIS loan approvals for different sums,” it stated.
The statement further explained that “upon disbursement, the loan of N500,000.00 was approved in favour of the rightful person using her Bank Verification Number (BVN) but with a wrong phone number.”
According to the statement, the loan has since been utilised by the said beneficiary in early 2020 and repayment commenced after moratorium adding that that was why Rebecca Zamari Daniel was receiving text messages for the repayment of a N500,000 loan.
NIRSAL then assured that the information mismatch has been sorted and the N5 million loan for Rebecca Zamari Daniel booked differently.
It said accordingly, “AGSMEIS application process has now been improved by leveraging technology to bring about efficiency as the process is now fully automated from start to finish”.
“NIRSAL MFB reiterates its commitment to delivering its services in a seamless manner for a more rewarding experience for our customers”, the statement added.
