A financial institution, Access Bank, has disbursed N740 billion to 18 million digital loan borrowers since the launch of its digital lending services in 2017.

The bank's Group Head, Consumer Banking, Njideka Esomeju, who disclosed this during the relaunch of its digital lending services called QuickBucks Loan, said the scheme was aimed at providing financial support to both individuals and business owners.

She said, "Since 2017 when we issued our first digital PayDay Loan, we have granted 18 million digital loans worth over 740bn, where customers can access up to 10m instantly.

"Nigerians need the financial support that our digital loans offer more than ever, whether it's the market woman who needs to replenish her inventory or the young couple who needs some extra funds to pay for their children's education; everyone can benefit from some assistance."

The bank's Team Lead, Digital Banking Business Development, Efe Obaigbena, added that the digital loan services offered new features, increasing repayment time to 12 months from 30 days with interest rate ranging from 5 to 14 per cent.

She stressed that the application to access the loan was designed with a lending algorithm that prevented the bank from risk, saying the algorithm provided a behavioural spending pattern of the lenders.

She further said, "And as a responsible lender, we make sure that our customers do not get into debt trouble, which is why we cap our loans at a certain percentage of salary or account transactions. Customers must also have good credit records across all financial institutions to be eligible for our loans."