GN Bank, an indigenous financial institution, says it has put measures in place to increase its branches from 103 to 300 by 2016 to ensure that Ghanaians gain access to world-class banking services.
General Manager of GN Bank, Issah Adam, who disclosed this to BUSINESS GUIDE in an interview recently, said 80 percent of Ghana?s adult population are unbanked, describing the situation as unacceptable.
He said the expansion was in line with the bank?s vision to become Ghana?s biggest bank in the near future.
?The idea is to have a branch in every district of all the 10 regions of the country and by so doing reach the unbanked population of the country,? he stressed.
The unbanked population in Ghana usually live in the rural areas, largely illiterate and vulnerable despite their industriousness.
Mr. Adams reiterated that GN bank ?was established for the people and so we go where others do not want to go. We send homegrown, world-class and at the same time customer-friendly banking services to places that other banks have abandoned.?
The bank has opened new branches at Elubo, Jasikan, Dzemeni, Hamile, Kpassa and Sampa, among others.
GN Bank intends to expand its reach to Aflao.
Mr Adams explained: ?Nothing has changed. We are still the same bank just that we are only bigger and better. Our services are the same, but improved and we will still deal with the people in the hinterlands.?
A client of the bank, Henry Takyi praised the bank for allowing the unbanked to open accounts with as little as GH?0.50.?
A director of the bank, Professor Franklyn Manu, explained that the rebranding was to avoid the confusion the old name somehow created.
Togbe Koku Dzaga XI of Klefe Traditional Area, who launched the new brand, cautioned the bank not to abandon its original clientele and expand to reach the unbanked instead of scrambling for the middle and upper class.
He also urged the bank to give maximum support to Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) to help them grow and improve the country?s economy.
From Fred Duodu, Ho ([email protected])
