BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
OVER 600 people with disabilities have opened bank accounts with the Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS), which has expanded financial inclusion among the marginalised population.
ZNBS public relations and marketing officer Chanda Mubanga said the society had been able to reach out to over 11,000 people with disabilities out of whom 617 currently had active bank accounts.
Mr Mubanga said it was among the many ways of ensuring that ordinarily marginalised citizens were also financially included.
Mr Mubanga was speaking in an interview at the 93rd Zambia Agriculture and Commercial Show in Lusaka.
“Suffice to say that our financial literacy week that takes out our products and services to these customers has produced some good statics in that we are able to reach out to over 11,000 persons with disabilities.
“And over 617 of them were able to open bank accounts and those accounts have remained active as we speak for the past two years,” Mr Mubanga said.
Mr Mubanga said ZNBS had also put in place a facility at all its ATMs to help people with disabilities access the machines without any inconvenience.
He said the society was now exploring ways to ensure that the ATMs were configured with a facility that would help with people who were blind or the visually impaired to use audio as they operated the machines.
“I know as a country we are targeting to reach about 80 percent financial inclusion by about 2025. I think we may hit that target before that time looking at the rate we are moving,” Mr Mubanga said.
