Men biggest spenders – FNB report
MBABANE – Who spends more money between men and women? The First National Bank (FNB) has provided a clue to a possible answer for the above question in its Shared Value Report for the year ended June 30, 2022 titled Eswatini Report to Society.
Despite common assumptions that women are the biggest shoppers, the report reflects that men were the heavier spenders during the Black Friday and the festive season in the year 2021.
It is expected that the next report on 2022 trends will be completed in June 30, 2023 and released at a later stage.
The bank reported that during November 26, 2021 Black Friday, men spent about E47.82m, while women spent E33.8m.
It was further reported that on the period between November and December 2021, men spent E398.26m, while women spent E259.74m. The figures were counted against transactions made through the bank within the stipulated period.
Social media users and customers of the bank reacted to the spending patterns, as released by the bank. Though most of the users in the bank’s official pages could not fault the report, they tried to give explanations of how men became the heavier spenders in the festive.
Most of the users attributed the high spending rate of men to women. Some said the women use men’s credit cards, while others said men spend their money on women.
LEGITIMATE DOCUMENT
FNB Eswatini confirmed the report as a legitimate document of the entity.
The report further showed that in the stipulated period, the bank gave out E539.8m in loans to men. E209.1m of the loans given to men was in respect of home loans, while E139.9m went to car loans and E193.8m was for personal loans.
Loans to women stood at a total of E334.4m out of which E135.8m was dedicated to home loans, E70.6m to car loans and E128m to personal loans.
The bank revealed that the number of women home owners was growing while ownership by men was slowing down based on past reports.
“There is growth in women securing home ownership as a growing number of women are no longer waiting for marriage to buy homes. The largest portion of female-owned homes is unmarried women between the age of 35 and 50 years,” read the report.
The bank further reported that balances owed by men were at E209.1m at the end of June 2022, which was a decrease from the reported E218.8m in 2021.
Loans distributed to youth between the age of 21 and 35 years amounted to E185.5m. The youth took E116.1m worth personal loans, E43.5m was accounted as car loans and E25.9m was for home loans.
BUSINESS LOANS
A total amount of E1.183 billion was issued by the bank in respect to combined individual and business loans. The bank further made investments in other areas such as gender-based development.
“Our gender diversity numbers showcase FNB Eswatini’s deliberate effort to ensure that women are well represented in roles within the bank, with an almost equal balance in management and executive positions. Investing in our people means grooming talent through the provision of leadership development support as well as providing technical skills. In the financial year, we have supported staff to further their education across a range of courses,” further reads the report.
In his foreword, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the bank Dennis Mbingo said they saw a need to take special interest in two areas including activities that could unlock opportunities for young people to sustain themselves, and broad-based actions that could help fight the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV).
“As FNB Eswatini, our first deployment of resources in 2022 to help fight GBV was an attempt to help those at the forefront of grassroots anti-GBV actions to increase their effort in healing and awareness, so that we can all live better lives. We appreciate the support from the Government of Eswatini and all other corporate companies who have made this ‘giving thing’ a mandatory part of their existence and success story. Together, we can,” he said.
The CEO said their focus on young people was not just a passion for the bank but a social and economic necessity. He stated that the path to development for any country was often fraught with shocks that were under-appreciated in the mass of economic and social data they process daily.
“We have been encouraged by our Board and Shareholders to be a long-term actor in the economy, to actively minimise short-term returns that come at the expense of long-term value growth, and to build a business model that emphasises a future of shared prosperity with all our stakeholders and most especially, the community we serve,” said Mbingo.
FUTURE THREATS TO SOCIETY
He said of all the groups that were ‘left behind’, women and young people seemed to stand out, which created a bedrock for future threats to society that could be mitigated through a better and more inclusive planning.
“Each time our teams meet to put together this content, I am deeply moved by the effort, understanding and empathy it takes from our people and our social partners to land what may appear to be simple solutions or outcomes. Good things take a lot of hard work. Eswatini has amazing talent depth and despite our present circumstances, we have enough in all of us to provide this country with the hope it requires to face what is unlikely to be an easy future,” he said.
The report covers a wide range of topics and investments made by the bank to the society. Such investments include E500m credit extended to the bank’s agriculture customers.
Other areas of investment by the bank as indicated in the report include arts and sports investments.