Standard what? 20 years of UBA in Ghana

Looking visibly nervous, Ramatu Kasim hesitated before the glass double doors before her, slipping off her threadbare slippers and placing them neatly to the side.

In a predominantly Muslim community, one might have assumed she was preparing for prayer. But her reverence was for something else—the gleaming edifice of a bank.

Ramatu, a woman in her sixties, had come to open an account after a devastating fire destroyed her life savings. Stories like hers were not uncommon then as formal banking remained out of reach for most people, forcing them to store money in all kinds of places.

When my team was tasked with developing a market-entry strategy for Standard Trust Bank Ghana (later UBA Ghana), our priority was understanding the needs of people like Ramatu.

At the time, banking was an exclusive affair for the affluent minority. Indeed, across Africa, financial exclusion was widespread.

Tony Elumelu, then just 33, had led a group of investors to acquire and transform the struggling Crystal Bank into Standard Trust.

Later, the bank merged with United Bank for Africa (UBA), but before it could make its mark in Ghana, we needed to understand the people we aimed to serve.

Research

Our nationwide research took us from the cramped dormitories of Cape Coast to the high-end condos of Kumasi, from Salaga’s open-air markets to Accra’s supermarkets, from churches in Takoradi to mosques in Wa.

Regardless of location or income, one theme emerged:

Ghanaians wanted banks that treated them with dignity. But most banks were indifferent, catering only to wealthier clients and demanding high minimum deposits that shut out the majority.

At the time, opening an account could require as much as $200 — an enormous sum compared to Ghana’s $1.25 daily minimum wage.

Despite formal banking in Ghana dating back to Bank of British West Africa in 1896, fewer than five per cent of adults had bank accounts.

The prevailing model was “armchair banking” where well-dressed bankers in air-conditioned offices focused on high-interest government securities, rather than innovating to serve the needs of everyday Ghanaians.

This model was common across Africa, where banking had long been a privilege rather than a right.

While organisations such as the World Bank and the Bank of Ghana had begun advocating financial inclusion, the challenge was how to make banking accessible to everyone.

We saw an opportunity for change

However, transforming the financial landscape was not without its challenges. The collapse of Pyram, a pyramid scheme that defrauded thousands, had severely eroded public trust in financial institutions. When we introduced Standard Trust, the response was often, “Standard what?”

Undeterred, we focused on customer insights and offered something different. One of our innovations was the Standard Cashless Account—a zero-deposit account designed for people in the informal sector. Customers could open an account with no initial deposit, allowing the previously unbanked to enter the formal financial system.

The Standard Cashless Account earned us the 2005 Banking Award for Best Retail Product. But more importantly, it signalled a shift in Ghana’s financial landscape, reflecting broader changes across Africa.

In Kenya, mobile money was revolutionising payments through M-Pesa.

In Nigeria, innovative banking models were attracting millions of new customers.

Across the continent, traditional banking barriers were slowly being dismantled.

Today, Ghana’s banking sector has transformed beyond what we could have imagined. Over 90 per cent of adults now have access to financial services, thanks to regulatory reforms, technological advancements, and innovations such as mobile money and digital banking.

This transformation has been driven by many factors and key players, but no history of Ghana’s banking revolution is complete without acknowledging the pioneering role of Standard Trust Bank Ghana. Led by Tony Elumelu and its first CEO, Obeahon Ohiwerei, the bank laid the foundation for a more inclusive financial system—one that recognises the needs of the everyday Ghanaian.

As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of that bold venture, I say to the early pioneers: “Accept your flowers, take a bow. History will look kindly on you”. 

The writer is a former Head of Corporate Services & Legal and second employee of Standard Trust (now UBA) Ghana