Personal savings good for economy – Access Bank MD
The Managing Director of Access Bank (Ghana) Ltd, Mr Dolapo Ogundimu, has called on Ghanaians to cultivate the culture of savings as a way of making them financially independent and also to make funds available for investment in the economy.
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“We are also encouraging people to save, own and operate their own bank accounts and be rewarded for making this conscious decision. More importantly, we want people to save for a rainy day,” Mr Ogundimu said in Accra when Access Bank launched the Easy Access Promo, a promotion to encourage savings.
Over 55 prizes are at stake, including generator sets, flat screen LED televisions and DVD players, smartphones and tablets. The ultimate winner will drive home a sleek and fully loaded 2013 Hyundai iX35 vehicle.
In addition, every customer who enters the promotion will get instant gifts such as free souvenirs. Access Bank is hoping to mobilise about GH¢100 million in savings between August 15 and November 15, 2013.
The banker expressed concern that although the people of Ghana are hardworking and industrious, the country had not fully benefited from those endowments because of the lack of proper education and savings culture.
“The amounts in savings determine what is available to invest in the economy. Improvement in the level of savings for investment has the tendency to reduce average cost of funds for banks, which will in turn have a lowering impact on bank’s lending rate and the general cost of doing business in Ghana,” Mr Ogundimu explained.
According to officials of the bank, it was not discouraging people to spend ahead of their incomes, but it wanted savings to precede spending, saying “anyone with sufficient savings is an empowered individual and this is very important to us at Access Bank.”
The bank, adjudged the ‘Fastest Growing Bank’ by Corporate Initiative Ghana at the 12th Ghana Banking Awards, is poised to develop more products and services to meet customer needs.
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“We re-tuned our product bouquet to offer additional banking products tailor-made for our existing and potential customers. We have expanded our channels by upgrading our Internet and mobile banking platforms which now have enhanced capabilities to be used on multiple browsers and smartphones,” the managing director of Access Bank Ghana said.
He hinted that the bank would soon join the GH-Link platform with its “Accesslink card”, a new generation card expected to give convenience to customers.
The Group Head for Retail Banking at Access Bank Ghana, Mr Stephen Abban, stated that the promotion was open to existing and new current and savings account holders of the bank and eligibility was based on depositing GH¢200 into an existing or new account.
To qualify for any of the prizes, however, customers needed to maintain a minimum of GH¢500 or more in their account throughout the promotion period or at the time of the draw, Mr Abban explained.
Two monthly mini draws in the months of September and October, are dedicated to reward early adopters of the campaign and to encourage others to join in the promotion, which is being supervised by the National Lottery Authority.
By Sarah Mensah & Rosina Blankson/Daily Graphic/Ghana