GCB Bank re-invents itself

 With a new tag line: ‘Your bank for life,’ GCB Bank Limited, formerly Ghana Commercial Bank Limited (GCB), GCB unveiled its new logo in Accra last Friday to mark the beginning of a new corporate image and identity which will see the bank upgrading its branches in phases for the next five years into a modern bank with state-of-the-art facilities.

 The unveiling of the logo forms part  to rebrand the bank  to make it more relevant to the needs of its customers. 

The company, after changing its name in 2013, has also evolved its corporate logo from a standing to a soaring eagle, aiming at higher heights and reach. The bank also aims to open more branches in areas where it was under-represented in line with current demographic patterns. 

Bank’s performance

GCB Bank is the second biggest bank in asset terms with 9.4 percent of the total industry’s assets in Ghanam, boasts of 157 branches dotted across the country. GCB, after losing some ground to new entrants and existing players in the market, has rebranded itself with an aim to solidify its position as one of the best-performing banks in the country today.

The rebranding process, which began over the last few years, has seen the training of its staff and an overhaul of the bank’s core values and brands and this has so far reflected in the bank’s performance as its revenue has doubled from GH¢200 million to GH¢560 million.

The bank’s operating profit has also increased from GH¢20million to GH¢320million, while deposits have also doubled over the last four years.

In 2010 and 2013, it was voted by investors in African capital markets across the world as the best-performing banking stock in Africa.

The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Simon Dornoo, said GCB was no longer an acronym but the name of the bank to make it easier to manage the banks product and service portfolio and also to help project a more modern image.

He said the bank had to evolve to meet the changing needs of its retail banking customers and the aspirations of companies and institutions often with international trading requirements.

The bank’s performance over the last four years, he said, has moved it from a 20th position on the banking league table to number one in terms of overall performance and return on investment.

Logo launch

A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mrs Mona Quartey, said the time had come for state-owned enterprises and institutions to position themselves in order to make profits and pay dividends to prop up the country's national revenue base. 

Speaking on behalf of the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, the deputy finance minister charged local banks to look for new openings outside the country and take advantage of them with the right approach and strategy.

She commended the bank for remaining a strategic partner to the government in trying moments, saying: "Government operations would have suffered if GCB did not exist."

The rebranding of the bank after 61 years of its existence in the country, she said, was expedient considering the changing nature of the industry, increasing client sophistication and the need to get the youth, who form the largest population in the country, to come on board. 

High expectations

"The rebranding of the bank should not just reflect in a name change or colour scheme adjustment but should epitomise the new resolve to make a difference both in business and in society.” 

"The new brand should be focused on increasing operational efficiency, delivering good quality service and making sure that ‘the customer is King,’" Mrs Quartey said.

The interim Board Chairman of GCB, Mr Elliot Gordon, said Africa was changing and the financial services sector was playing a key role in Africa's transformation, with strong banks and telecommunication companies leading the way.

He said new banking policies in the country had led to growth in the banking sector and GCB was thus repositioning itself to be among the top banks in Africa.

Mr Gordon said GCB had gained a lot of investor and stakeholder confidence through its commitment to implementing best practice standards in the way it did business. GB

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