Fidelity Bank Plc, one of the 24 universal (deposit money) banks operating in the country at present has expanded the bouquet of personal finance and wealth management products in the Nigerian financial market.

The bank last week in Lagos launched the latest entrant into the consumer finance and lifestyle enhancement category, a product it tagged: Wealth Wallet. Through the product, which is a four pronged credit offering, Fidelity Bank beckons to the banking public to grow their dreams of financial fulfilment and also realise them.

The Fidelity Wealth Wallet is a hybrid consumer credit package that offers a mix of four lifestyle-enhancing credit facilities encompassing mortgages, household loans, facilities for automobile acquisitions and share purchase loans.

The beauty of the launch is that the products are key to the financial wellbeing of any individual. The products are specially tailored to meet the needs of the middle class segment of the society that incidentally are the bedrock of any economy and also having the income base to access the credits.

As individual progresses in his career and business, the need for financial independence increases by the day.

The individual will face the growing need to acquire those things that will give him greater access to the things of life.

What the Fidelity Bank Wealth Wallet has done, according to officials of the financial institution, is identify those key needs of the individual that are necessary for financial independence and offer them as a bundle to the banking public - existing and potential customers.

Depending on an individual's income level, the four components can be accessed as a bundle or differently - one product after the other.

Economic experts see the coming back of the middle-class as the most significant development in the Nigerian economy in recent years. The middle-income class people are the core of any competitive economy. In the general financial services sector, the middle class constitutes the enduring consumer base of sustainable banking services. Wealth Wallet is Fidelity Bank's response to the growing lifestyle needs of that fast re-emerging segment of the Nigerian population.

Speaking at the launch of the product, Fidelity Bank's General Manager, Consumer Banking, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei, said Wealth Wallet is easily distinguishable from the cluster of credit products in the Nigerian financial market.

She said: "The mortgage components of the package are made up of home equity loan, residential investment property loan as well as land acquisition loan. The mortgage components, for instance, offer customers up to 10 to 15-year tenure during which they are to repay the loan.

"It carries only 20 per cent equity contribution and comes with a moratorium period of six months, with an option to repay at no cost."

The general manager told guests at the launch comprising customers of the bank, some of the targeted beneficiaries of the products offering, financial journalists and the bank's personnel that the household loan components (the second leg of the Wealth Wallet) offers individuals a rear opportunity to acquire household and luxury items of their choice without any stress.

"The household loans carry flexible repayment terms that factor in the earnings of the applicant or individual and comes with a 24-month tenure where the item to be acquired is valued at over one million naira. "There is also a provision in it for harmonised family income rating for husband and wife," she said.

The Fidelity Wealth Wallet car purchase loan (the third leg) enables the customer to buy brand new vehicles and repossess such Fidelity Bank financed vehicles from reputable leasing companies in Nigeria. It allows a repayment period of over four years.

The car purchase facility, Isichei added, is also designed with clusters like cooperative societies of blue chip companies, cooperative clubs of large corporations and key government parastatals in mind.

To access the credit facilities covered by Wealth Wallet as a bundle or in bits, the customer simply walks into any of the branches of Fidelity Bank. He requests to fill the application form and after which is assigned a customer service staff that will guide him through the other processes.

Isichei pointed out also that Wealth Wallet has an administrator portal. The portal, she said, enables customers to log on online by themselves, check their credit rating and complete their loan application documents in the comfort of their homes.

According to her, the vision of the bank in designing the product is to enhance the living standards of the middle class, but not excluding the lower income bracket. The bank's vision in that regard is to make home ownership, assets acquisition and securities purchases easy and accessible through solutions that are simple, flexible and affordable.

To that extent, Wealth Wallet comprises a range of products that collectively meet the needs of individual professionals and cooperatives of companies.

The products, said the general manager, were based on the industry forecast that Nigerian banking will continue to evolve towards electronic-based, flexible payment solutions with a renewed focus on long-tenured mortgages.

"In Fidelity Bank we see in this convergence of historical factors an inevitable challenge and opportunity to present innovative, multi-faceted credit products that capture the interest of this huge demographic," said Isichei.

She rationalised the launch of the products into the Nigerian financial market by the fact that they identified the needs of the emerging middle class that has fast growing demand for credit resulting from sustained economic growth.

The other rationale for Wealth Wallet, she said, is that it identified potential in affluent working class and the fact that retail mortgage loans are a primary need of the consumer group as people strive towards the financial independence that home ownership and other assets confer.

The unique propositions of Wealth Wallet according to Fidelity Bank are -the convenience and speed incorporated in the services delivery; easy access to a bundle of products; the speedy application of facility to use; easy acquisition of assets; the installment payment put in place and based on cash flow; the harmonised family income rating for husband and wife; the flexible and long-tenured re-payment structure the facilities come with; the automated loan administrator portal as well as the informed team of 'Wealth Advisers' made available by the bank for customers in all of its branches.

Perhaps, a more interesting aspect of the Wealth Wallet is the share purchase facility. Even though the Nigerian stock market has been bearish since the past seven months, many investment advisers still believe this is the time to take position, especially in those equities that are selling far below their intrinsic values.

Buying more of such stocks, market analysts advise, will enable investors cushion the losses in their portfolios.

Mrs. Isichei said Fidelity Bank through the Wealth Wallet offerings can still give share purchase facilities even though the bank will also need to factor in the prevailing trend in the market.

The point that is made is that the bank can still extend credit for share purchases where after risk valuations, it considers it viable to do so.

There are strong indications that the stock market will rebound by the first quarter of next year. That, according to investment and marker analysts, presents opportunities for the discerning investor to explore.