NBS Bank has said it is still giving out loans to its clients in contrast to what some of the customers are saying that they are being denied access to loans.
Some customers complained that for the past three to five months they have been denied access to loans raising speculation that the bank has suspended loan disbursements to its clients.
But NBS Bank Marketing Manager Timothy Ngwira said it is not true that the bank had stopped giving out loans.
“My office has also been receiving a lot of queries from customers on the matter. As a bank, we are still giving out loans. If we stop doing that, we will be killing our income source and the bank in a way,” said Ngwira.
He explained that following the devaluation, interest rates were adjusted upwards which made loan disbursement a bit difficult.
“After the devaluation, there was no immediate change of salaries for most of our clients. This meant the money they used to receive was no longer the same and when we are giving out loans, we base on the income of a particular person.
“So most of our assessments showed that our clients could not afford to get the loans they requested for. But, as a bank, we would advise them to reduce the amount they were looking for and this did not go down well with the clients,” explained Ngwira.
He said the bank has been stringent as it’s duty mainly to protect the depositors money.
Ngwira assured the clients that the bank is still giving out loans if one meets the banks assessment criteria.
One of the client who asked for anonymity said the bank could not give a K500,000 loan three months ago for no good reason while another said the bank turned down their loan application of K200,000 last month.
