By Fola James

Access Bank Plc customers who depend on the instant loan service, also known as PayDay provided by the new generation bank are happy that the service has been restored few hours after the Herbert Wigwe-led bank said on Monday that it needed to conduct system upgrade. The instant loan has changed customers’ experience and helped millions of Nigerians to meet their pressing needs since it came upstream in 2017, according to customers who have been using the service.

“Dear Customer, our instant loans will be temporarily unavailable due to important system updates to enable us serve you better. Thanks for choosing Access,” the bank said on Monday.

For the few hours that the upgrade lasted, some customers thought that their lives have been put on hold. Some of them were calling the bank’s Customers Service to inquire when the upgrade will be completed so that they can move on with their lives again.

Hundreds of calls were made to customer service representatives who assured customers that the service will be restored in no time. For customers who could not make calls, they simply stormed the bank’s branches to demand that the service be restored quickly.

Indeed, the way customers responded to the temporary shut-down of the service, according to customers service experts is an indication of how customers now depend on the bank to meet instant and basic needs to make their lives better.

“That you can just, in the confine of your room or office punch a button on your android phone the USSD code, and in few minutes your account is credited without having any contact with anybody, no queue up in the banking hall for hours, have shown how seamless banking has become in Nigeria.  It’s also an indication that the new generation bank understands that customers are the key element in the marketing mix,” said Gani Olasunkanmi, a customer’s relations expert in Lagos.

Also known as “PayDay Loan’ the service is available to customers and non-customers of the bank at a low interest rates, the bank said.

“Sometimes emergencies arise before payday and you might be low on cash. This is where PayDay Loan comes in and you can get access to an instant loan by dialing *901*11*1# or via Internet Banking, WhatsApp Banking, Access Mobile App and QuickBucks App.

“Payday Loan is an instant loan product for customers (both salary and non-salary earners). With Payday Loan, you can borrow money at low interest rate with no documentation or collateral needed,” the bank said on its website.

The Access Bank’s instant loan, according to industry players is very unique, in the sense that apart from the fact that it is a 24/7 service, it does not require visits to the bank, no documentation required and application is done conveniently via *901*11*1# QuickBucks App, Internet Banking, Mobile App.

With up to 31 days tenor to pay back, the customer is allowed enough time to upset the loan and has already been rid of the unpleasant situations where bank representatives will be bordering him with calls and visit to his home or business location to make demand on him.

Gboyega Oloke, a customs’ agent in Apapa said the service has saved him from many embarrassments particularly regarding his children school fees and house upkeep for his family. “I don’t bother myself again with the children school fees, because all I have to do is to dial the Access USSD, in few minutes the money lands in my account. There has never been anything like this.”

He said the service is a top notch that must be replicated by other commercial banks in the country. “It is a fresh banking experience that many Nigerians could not have imagines was possible few years ago. Apart from the problem of having to queue up for hours in the bank, wasting several man hours, filing all manners of documentation, you are not even assured that the loan with be approved at the end of the day. But Access Bank instant loan is at your finger tips so long you have an account with any bank in the country.”

Customers could access up to N1 million from the service based on the term and conditions set by the bank. But checks by the magazine indicate that traders, artisans and civil servants used the service more. Some of them said they used the service to settle some basic transactions while waiting for their salaries to be paid. Others say they used the loan to stock their shops and expand their business without bordering about collateral.

“Before I received my salary, I would have settled my wife and other small bills which in the past was very difficult because in those days I needed to wait for at least 30 days to be paid my salary. You can imagine the relief many of us now feel knowing that you can spend while waiting for the next salary to come,” said Adebisi Kolawole, an Ibadan, Oyo state based civil servant.

Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Retail Banking, Access Bank said the PayDay loan has revolutionized customers experience apart from expanding the net of financial inclusion in the country.

He said the bank is “at the forefront of digital lending across the continent. This is a deliberate choice we made when we introduced the first USSD based digital lending product in Nigeria based on our deep understanding of our operating environment.

Within the first two years that the PayDAY service was introduced, the bank said it disbursed over 3.5 million loans to individuals. In 2019 alone over N45 billion in over 2 million disbursements were made to individuals and the volumes have since hit over N1 billion daily, according to checks by the magazine.

This is a milestone, Etuokwu said because “this achievement and our focus on retail lending reiterate our commitment to democratize access to financial services leveraging digital technology.”

Launched on October 1, 2017, Access Bank Payday Loan or Salary Advance Scheme is a product created in collaboration with Remita to make loans available to salary earners; irrespective of what bank their salary account is domiciled.