Centenary Rural Development Bank Ltd
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 Fabian Kasi Managing Director Centenary Bank |  CB: Women in business to benefit fromShs1b fund More than Shs1b has been put aside by several funders to facilitate and develop the capacity of women in business and those aspiring to be in business.The initiative code named Supawoman, targets women in all walks of life, particularly those with ambition to do business or already in business.Women, according to the funders, among them Abi Trust, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Centenary Bank, are reliable business partners as well as better managers than their male counterparts. And any form of support such as credit facilities will enhance their esteem and make them competitive.The Centenary Bank supervisor for women banking, Ms Hellen Tomusange, told Daily Monitor yesterday that a decision to improve the capacity and nurture women in business, among other things, is informed by research findings showing women as better than men in management and doing business. Read more ▪ Clients of Centenary Bank will be required to register new Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) if they are to withdraw any money using their ATMs, the bank has announced.The bank's manager for corporate affairs, Miss Allen Ayebare in an email revealed that all PINs for customers had been deactivated; hence all customers with old PINs can only withdraw from the counter until they have new PINs reset.Speaking to the Daily Monitor on phone, the Managing Director Mr Fabian Kasi confirmed the measure is precautionary after the bank received alerts that five clients were having transactions being carried out using their respective PINs without their notice.Read more ▪ Centenary Bank cancels all ATM cards Centenary Bank has cancelled all Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) which implies that customers cannot make any withdrawals over automated teller machines (ATM). Troubles for customers started on Monday, when withdrawals were limited to sh100,000. Some customers say they were only able to access sh50,000 before the ATM cards were cancelled. According to inside sources, the bank could have lost a significant amount of money due to ATM fraud, Independence Day. However, Fabian Kasi, the Centenary Bank managing director dismissed talk of fraud as baseless. “We are upgrading our system, and have deactivated all PINs. Customers that want to use the ATM should come with valid identification documents at their convenience and we will give them a new PIN. Read more ▪ Centenary Bank posts Shs74b profit Centenary Bank’s net profit after tax has increased by 27.3 per cent to Shs73.8 billion, up from Shs58 billion. This growth, according to the bank’s managing director, Mr Fabian Kasi, was as a result of good and prudent underwriting of loans thus returning quality loan portfolio.“There was growth in the economy which saw growth in private sector credit, thus returning more revenue. There was also good management of costs, as well as diversification in sources of revenue, leading to increase in non-funded income,” he told Daily Monitor.The bank also recorded an increase in the total assets to Shs1.6 trillion, up from Shs1.45 trillion. Read more ▪ Centenary Bank: Lack of records limiting SMEs’ access to credit Accessing credit by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda is still difficult as interest rates hover above the 20 per cent mark. The enterprises are considered a high risk to lend to by bankers because they are looked at as most likely to default on loans. Mr Michael Jjingo, the chief manager business growth at Centenary Bank, said for businesses that don’t keep records, accessing loans is much more difficult. “When we are assessing the quality of credit, we look at whether the person has the capacity to pay back the loan. And how do we do this? By looking at your books,” he said.He was speaking at a media briefing organised in the run up to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Accountants conference. Mr Jjingo says having proper books of accounts is an indicator of good governance. He emphasises that informal market traders will still be able to borrow albeit at high interest rates for a short period of time. Read more ▪ CB: Shilling sheds 0.3% after sh180b auction Despite an injection of sh180b to ease scarcity, the shilling lost 0.3% against the dollar with some traders saying yields on the Treasury bond could signal lower yields. The shilling was trading at 2,857/2,867 buying and selling respectively at the close of business at most commercial banks down from 2, 849/2,859. "There is considerable demand from importers, manufacturers, commercial banks and the business community. The bond had little effect on the forex movements as it is long term," Daniel Sage Muganza, a forex trader with Centenary Bank. "I personally think offshore interest was low for this issue. The interest of 11% is much lower than the Bank of Uganda window rate of 15%. We could see yields starting to drop,"Most commercial banks are square right now but we could see some movements starting tomorrow, he explained. Read more ▪   MTN Uganda the leading Mobile Money network has partnered with Centenary Bank Uganda to advance their ATM Cash out footprint by allowing customers to cash out at all Centenary bank ATMs across the country.“At MTN we listen to our customers’ needs and wants and with this background we continuously strive to exploit opportunities that make the life of our customers smooth and simplified, and our partnership with Centenary back is absolutely another opportunity to reach out to customers all over the country with this new proposition,” said MTN’s acting Chief Marketing Officer Kenneth Kiddu.Centenary bank’s 147 ATMs that are strategically located at all the 62 branches in the country will be utilized by millions of customers from centenary bank and MTN Mobile Money.“We are constantly looking for opportunities to simplify banking; and continuously employing the latest and best technology available to make banking more convenient. In MTN Mobile Money, we have found a strong, reputable and reliable partner we can work with to deliver our promise to our customers and improve their experience,’’ commented Fabian Kasi the managing director Centenary Bank. Read more ▪ Students to pay 7 per cent interest on loans Programme. Government has earmarked Shs5b for the student loan scheme.By assenkabirwa@ug.nationmedia.com KAMPALA.University students applying to get loans under the higher education students’ loan scheme will pay an interest of seven per cent at the time of repaying loans, a top ministry official has said. Mr Wanyama said they had reached an agreement with Centenary Bank to give out loans as well as collecting filled out application forms from applicants across the country.“We want to experiment and see how effective they can do the work, but with time we shall bring other banks on board,” he said. He added that students will also be required to pay a loan processing fee of Shs20,000.Applying for loans began. Government has put aside Shs5b to kick-start the scheme which is intended to enable students from poor background to access higher education. Read more ▪ Centenary Bank has earmarked shs150b in a bid to boost the agriculture sector through value chain financing.Under this arrangement, the financial institution will finance production of major crops and working capital for their purchase from farmers at harvest time. With this, officials said, the farmers will be assured of good pre-determined prices and timely payments for their produce. The Bank will be financing crops that include coffee, sunflower, cotton, maize, barley, shear beans, candlenuts used for bio-diesel production, rice as well as dairy products. According to the Bank’s Chief Manager Agricultural Credit, Evans Nakhokho, the initiative will begin with financing of sunflower production in Northern Uganda in partnership with A.K Oils and Fats Limited, a subsidiary of Mukwano Group of Companies. Read more ▪ Despite posting increase in the impairment losses on loans and advances, Centenary and Equity banks have joined a list of local banks that have so far reported profit growth for the year that ended December 31.According to the published financial statements, Centenary’s net profit rose to Shs58 billion in 2013 from Shs54.9 billion the previous year while Equity’s net profit increased from Shs2.1 billion to Shs6.6 billion.However, Centenary’s impairment losses on loans and advances went up from Shs6.4 billion to Shs9.5 billion while that of Equity Bank increased to Shs3.5 billion from Shs2.6 billion the previous year. Read more ▪ Centenary Bank Boosts Youth Entrepreneurship Centenary Bank and International Labour Organisation (ILO) have partnered with the Consortium for enhancing University Responsiveness to Agribusiness Development Limited (CURAD) to provide financial literacy to youth in agriculture. CURAD is one of the six agribusiness incubators in Africa and is aimed at producing innovative young entrepreneurs and agribusiness leaders to champion productivity and profitability of the agricultural enterprises in the country. According to Apollo Ssegawa, the Managing Director of CURAD, the initiative will boost sustainability of the businesses nurtured at the centre. “As new entrepreneurs, the youths must know how to handle money as well as keep records if they are to stay in business. This partnership will help us reach our goal of promoting successful agribusiness enterprises in the country.” Read more ▪ Centenary Bank: Shilling expected to stay strong against US dollar Low demand coupled with reduced inflows from the offshore investors has helped Uganda’s foreign exchange market to stay stable with the shilling making a slight appreciation against the US dollar.The shilling was trading in the range of 2525 to 2530 against US Dollar with the demand and supply matching.Market Outlook by Centenary Bank indicates that shilling is expected to remain firm in the short-term on the back of end-month dollar conversions.The stable currency environment is good for importers and exporters, given that they are in a better position to predict their operational costs.Read more ▪  Centenary Bank appointed NIC Bank’s agency in Uganda Kampala Customers of Kenyan based NIC Bank and its local subsidiary - NC Bank will now be able to transact their business countrywide after Centenary Bank was appointed the institution’s banking agency.NC Bank managing director John Okullo said its customers are now able to make deposits into their accounts through Centenary Bank branches at no extra costs.“We are increasing our presence in the high network to facilitate local businesses as well as cross border trade. Read more ▪  Centenary bank assures customers on interest rates Centenary bank has assured its customers that its interest rates will come down soon, as the economy continues to recover from the 2011 slump.Managing Director Fabian Kasi said the bank was working to lower the rates.“We have a lot of costs involved; it is not only the cost of money that determines the cost of the loan. Operational costs like staff salaries, visits to the borrowers [are counted],” Kasi said. Read more ▪    New mobile money firm launched EzeeMoney, a new mobile money service provider, has been officially launched in Ugandan. The service operated by EzeeMoney Limited will work in collaboration with Centenary Bank-which will provide an escrow account to primarily safeguard the electronic transfers. Mr Emmanuel Mutebile, the Governor Bank of Uganda, said in his speech that the entry of the new product will further cement the growth in money transfer services that has been witnessed in the last five years. “The product will help build a modern and inclusive financial services industry in Uganda,” he said. Read more ▪ | |