FNB introduces Eswatini Market Square for entrepreneurs
MBABANE – FNB Eswatini on Monday successfully launched the Eswatini Market Square to help budding entrepreneurs access thousands of customers easily.
FNB Eswatini has created a website to support businesses that wish to increase their access to a wide customer pool and to assist buyers who need to find help quicker.
According to the FNB Eswatini Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dennis Mbingo, they observed an information gap between their customers and the providers of basic goods and services that customers need.
Trust
He said at a basic level, when a single mother needs an electrician or a repairman, she must go through a trusted circle of friends to find a reference.
“We can help and be that trusted friend that connects the two by providing a digital meeting place where the potential client meets a potential service provider.
“The migration to mobile technology downgraded the old telephone directory and yellow book that served this purpose, yet there is lots of valuable data that can be publicly shared with the consent of sellers, to help close this info gap,” he said.
Mbingo mentioned that the seller makes a needed sale, the buyer closes a need a lot quicker and the decision-making velocity improves turnover for all concerned.
The CEO said this online Market Square was an important step towards a future mobile phonebased marketplace app and a full eCommerce-based offering.
“I am happy that a local team put this together and will maintain it. This is also one promising route we are exploring where emaSwati can help themselves through helping each other,” he added.
Mbingo also mentioned that the website will list FNB business customers who need access to a wider audience, without losing the right to continue with their ability to run other marketing and advertising activities.
Agreed
FNB Eswatini’s Head of Commercial, Chantell Littler, underlined the fact that FNB Eswatini had agreed to provide this platform for free as part of an ongoing effort to help grow small businesses.
She said they want to help promote businesses that bank with FNB, within their sizeable customer
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base and beyond.
“This should ease access to meaningful help. We want to cover the one-person catering business, the small décor company, the for-hire truck operator right up to the multi-employee enterprise that has multiple product lines,” Littler said.
While FNB neither guarantees the quality of workmanship nor the seller’s integrity, the fact that the seller is a banked entity that has some basic identity information available should help filter questionable businesses.
Assist
According to Littler: “Like any business, while buyers of services carry the transaction risk, FNB shall assist by reserving the right to remove businesses from the website whose conduct is reported as questionable and who have KYC information that is outdated.
“KYC information will be important in knowing who we are allowing onto the platform. A service rating feature and customer commentary will also be added to help keep service providers honest and accountable to their customers.”
FNB is inviting FNB-banked individuals and businesses to share their business details on this new website.
Access to the website is open to all and everyone will be able to find the right service provider for them regardless of who the searching entity banks with.
Customers are invited to visit www.marketsquare.co.sz to get their businesses listed on the site.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."