By ETimes
NMB Zimbabwe (NMB) a financial services provider said it has successfully launched its remittance arm, NMBRemit as a way to increase its products to the general population.
Violet Mutandwa, NMB company secretary in a first quarter trading update said, “This partnership positions NMB as one of the biggest Bank in terms of physical channel distribution. The service is aimed at providing real convenience to customers by bringing banking services closer to our customers.”
The bank accelerated its Agency Banking with the Zimbabwe Post & Telecommunications Company (Zimpost) resulting in the Bank being live in 109 Zimpost branches countrywide.
With this wide network now in place, NMBRemit, a local money transfer service was launched earlier in the month of May enabling both clients and non-clients to send money across the country with collection points at Zimpost and NMB Bank branches nationwide.
During the quarter under review, NMB announced the reopening of Kwekwe Branch as part of the Bank’s way to increase its footprint in the market as well as to complement the digital distribution channels.
“The Bank introduced the Flexi Plan and Gadziriro Funeral products underwritten by Old Mutual Life Assurance and Zimnat Life respectively,” she added.
The products complement the short-term insurance packages that NMB has been offering its customers. In the same period, the group received regulatory approval to set up a property subsidiary, NMB Properties Limited, which was launched on the 6th of May 2023.
According to Mutandwa this new subsidiary will enable it to make inroads into the property sector making use of its land and property portfolio to create real value for shareholders.
As for the financials, the company secretary said, “The Group generated operating income of $15,9 billion for the quarter ended 31 March 2023, signifying a 613,63 percent increase from the $2 billion recorded for the same period in prior year.”
According to Mutandwa, the strong performance is largely driven by increased transaction volumes, increased income generating projects and modest loan book growth.
In the period under review, NMB’s total assets grew by 32,66 percent from the previous quarter funded by increase in credit lines and customer deposits.
“The Bank has witnessed customer deposits grow by 63,7 percent from $53,2 billion as at December 32, 2022 to $87,1 billion as at March 31, 2023,” Mutandwa said.
While the bank has realised an increase in business volumes and transactions, the growth is also reflective of the impact of the exchange rate on USD deposits.
Mutandwa added that, “The Bank continued to practice prudent lending focusing on quality assets, which has kept the NPL ratio at low levels of 1,43 percent, a partial increase from 1,09 percent in the previous quarter – Harare