Bank Specific Factors and Loan Repayments Culture of Credit Takers of Microfinance Banks in Kwara State

Abstract
The loan repayment culture in instrumental to the sustainability and effectiveness of the microfinance banks but overtime, the microfinance banks in Nigeria have been recording high default rates and over-indebtedness from the loans disbursed to credit takers at various categories. Hence, this study investigates the effect of bank specific factors on the loan repayment culture of the credit takers of microfinance banks in Kwara State. Primary data was collected from the loan officers, account officers and marketers of the 33 microfinance banks in Kwara State as at 2023 and multi-stage sampling technique was utilized in selecting appropriate sample size of 160 staff of microfinance banks across all the 3 senatorial districts in Kwara State. OLS regression model was used to analyze the model and the study found that bank specific factors such as funding adequacy, interest rate, credit appraisal process and loan tenure do not impact on the repayment culture of the credit takers of microfinance banks in Kwara State. However, the distance to MFBs appears to be significant indicating the credit takers feel less committed to the repayment of loan due to the distance of the MFBs. This study recommends that microfinance banks should ensure proximity to the credit takers for effective monitoring and loan utilization.
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