FBNBank has introduced an innovative and exciting career-shaping opportunity for young persons between 11 and 14 years old at the basic school level, dubbed ‘Junior Internship’, through which early adolescents who are customers of the bank undertake an internship programme at FBNBank with additional benefits.
The first-in-the-market FBNBank Junior Internship programme was rolled at the beginning of July, and is in line with the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. It is aimed at providing the bank’s “young customers” – with consent from their parents and/or guardians – an opportunity to benefit from a one-week internship at any of FBNBank’s 26 branches and service points across the country.
Under the programme, junior interns are expected to enjoy a rich, first-hand learning and mentoring experience in a world-class corporate working environment that offers benefits like: banking and financial literacy awareness; a hands-on feel of banking and customer service at the branch level; confidence-building and how to interact with different people; the importance and habit of savings; and career counselling and mentoring. At the end of the internship programme, each intern is expected to present a handwritten report which is shared with their parents or guardian. FBNBank, in turn, will present each intern with a certificate of participation upon completing the programme.
Commenting on the Junior Internship programme, Victor Yaw Asante, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer-FBNBank said: “At FBNBank, we consider our young customers as the future of the country. This initiative is in line with our broad approach to focus on the youth, and it aligns with our corporate social responsibility agenda. Accordingly, we have fashioned this development opportunity for our young ones so that we can help improve their exposure to the work environment and give them a head-start in this competitive world.
“It is FBNBank’s aim that through our Junior Internship programme, some of our interns will make informed career choices and back those decisions with the required effort to achieve their dreams or desires. We look forward with anticipation, and hope to see them become accomplished professionals. That would certainly mean we have delivered on our promise to put our stakeholders first, and in the process contribute to their future and Ghana’s.”
By the end of 2023, FBNBank aims to have touched the lives of many early adolescents through its Junior Internship programme. To achieve this, the bank is collaborating with schools in the catchment areas of its 26 branches and agencies to make the programme available to young persons when they are on a vacation and show a willingness to benefit from it – and, importantly, have their parent’s or guardian’s consent. To qualify for participation, each would-be intern must fall within the age bracket of 11 and 14 years and should be a customer of the bank by opening either an ‘FBNBank Me First’ or ‘FBNBank Kids First’ account.
According to Allen Quaye, Head of Retail Banking at FBNBank: “By linking the Junior Internship programme to the ‘Me First’ or ‘Kids First’ account, we are guaranteeing an additional benefit of financial awareness and security for the young ones who are the account holders. Through the savings, they will be better placed to pursue the careers they have carefully chosen following their participation in the bank’s internship programme.
“We believe that this is an innovative double-winner for children and parents, and we urge all to take advantage of this unique first-time opportunity offered by FBNBank. We further guarantee this support from FBNBank for life, by making it possible for these young holders of either our ‘Me First’ or ‘Kids First’ accounts as they transition into early adulthood as tertiary students to have the ‘FBNBank Xplore Account’ – which also has great benefits.”
FBNBank has been operating in Ghana for the past 27 years and remains focused on putting its customers and communities first. This it has done and still does, through the rich value and excellence of what the bank contributes to relationships with its stakeholders, particularly the customers.
FBNBank Ghana is a member of the First Bank of Nigeria Limited Group, which is renowned for the great customer service and general stakeholder engagement garnered over its 129 years of operation. FBNBank Ghana has 23 branches and 3 agencies across the country, with over 500 staff. The bank offers universal banking services to individuals and businesses in Ghana.
