FCB savings campaign set to end on high note
FIRST Capital Bank’s (FCB) campaign to encourage savings ends on a high note in Harare this coming Saturday with a musical bash lined up for the grand final draw.
For the past six months, the financial institution has been running a “liability campaign” under the name ‘ Balance Up and Drive’.
According to Emily Nemapare, head of marketing and communications at FCB, the campaign “aims to promote a savings culture in line with the country’s financial inclusion agenda”.
Early this week, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy II (NFIS-II) to achieve the aspirations of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS-1).
Among other things, NFIS-II is meant to increase the level of savings in the economy which has been declining over the years.
According to NFIS-II savings uptake in the country has been declining from 47 percent of adults who were saving in 2014, down to 36 percent in 2022.
In monetary terms, the savings averaged US$130 per month reflecting the general poverty levels among some Zimbabweans, reads part of NFIS-II.
The strategy paper also revealed that savings both with the banks and other formal non-bank financial institutions have declined from 10 percent in 2014, to 5 percent and 7 percent respectively, with 64 percent of the adult population not saving at all, an increase from 53 percent in 2014.
Only 13 percent of MSMEs use banking and other formal channels for saving, which represents a 7 percentage points decline from 20 percent in 2014, reads part of NFIS-II.
Low awareness of financial products and a lack of disposable income were identified as major barriers to savings and investments in the formal financial services sector.
To encourage a savings culture, FCB has been running a promotion that began on April 1 2022 and ends on Saturday.
To accrue an entry into Saturday’s grand draw, the bank’s existing customers were supposed to maintain an average balance of $20,000 or US$100 per calendar month for 6 months. New customers were supposed to open an account, deposit, and maintain a balance of $20 000 or US$100 during the promotion period.