DE-STRESS: Stanbic Bank launches campaign to make back-to-school season, financially easy for parents, schools and schools suppliers 

Stanbic Bank Uganda has today, unveiled ‘a financial relief package’ in a campaign dubbed “Wumula ka Stress— (relieve your stress)” whose benefits include, up to a 75-days’ grace period before the start of an 84-month repayment period for customers who take new personal loans or top-ups, between January and April 2023.

Stanbic is Uganda’s largest bank and Uganda’s largest lender.

Unveiling the campaign today, at the bank’s head office, Emma Mugisha, the bank’s Executive Director and Head of Business Banking, said the 90-day campaign is designed for parents, schools, and suppliers, ahead of the start of the 2023 academic year.

“To our customers who are also parents, we are saying, access a collateral-free loan of up to UGX250 million—repayable in 84 months and enjoy a repayment grace period of up to 75 days—normally, repayment starts immediately. That way, we relieve your stress.

For school owners, we know the pressure that comes with receiving students for the new academic year—to ensure that you have enough operating capital, we are enabling them to access up to UGX500 million of collateral-free credit, within 24 hours which they can repay within two-school terms, as they collect from students,” said Mugisha.

Using FlexiPay, the schools registered on the platform have also been enabled to collect school fees in a more transparent, efficient, and secure method.

“Many schools struggle when it comes to collecting school fees, using manual collection, and accounting methods. FlexiPay has been enabled to assist our schools not only collect fees efficiently but also pay for bills and other suppliers at a more cost-effective rate which reduces their operational expenses,” said Emma.

At the start of the 2022 academic year, Stanbic Bank relieved schools of UGX1.5 billion worth of accrued unpaid interest on loans, this, after the Covid-19 pandemic had forced them out of operation for nearly two years—the initiative directly benefited over 100 schools.

The bank is currently running a FlexiKatale promotion in partnership with several local TV stations, giving a platform to its customers that can’t afford TV advertisements to showcase their services and products, ahead of the new school term.

Stanbic Bank’s Head of Consumer Banking, Israel Arinaitwe, said the festive season which is characterized by heavy is often followed by financial stress as parents struggle to find resources to return children to school. As a result, school owners also find it difficult to secure operating capital. Suppliers too, find it difficult in stocking up. 

“Therefore, the campaign is to solve all these customer segments and ensure that we support them to have the best possible start to the new year; hence the campaign, Wumula Ka Stress,” said Arinaitwe. 

Paul Tamale, the Head of the Card Business said as parents do back-to-school shopping for their children, they will also stand a chance of winning back up to 20% of the total expenditure when they buy from select outlets around the country.

“We are encouraging our customers to shop with their VISA cards; it is not only secure but also comes with benefits such as enjoying discounts and earning back some of the money you spend,” he said.

School owners are also being encouraged to apply for the Stanbic Bank School Comprehensive insurance which covers them against hazards such as fires, floods, and accidents.

“In the past, we have seen cases of schools getting burnt, school buses overturning and many other calamities; our Stanbic School Comprehensive product is designed to protect you from such and ensure business continuity,” said Dogo Singh, the Head of Bancassurance.

Dogo added that for parents seeking to relieve themselves from the stress that comes with paying out of pocket when children fall sick, the Stanbic MediProtect would help.

“Most Ugandans don’t have medical insurance mainly because it is expensive. Therefore, we created an affordable solution called ‘MediProtect’ in partnership with Prudential. With as low as UGX 600,000, a parent can have their child insured for a year, relieving you of the stress that comes with paying for hospital bills out of pocket,” added Dogo.