GCB Bank to extend service across West Africa

The Managing Director of GCB Bank, Mr Anselm Ransford Adzetey Sowah, has revealed that the bank will expand its operations into the West Africa sub-region, beginning with the English-speaking countries.

The bank is also exploring opportunities to form a joint venture with a foreign partner to provide insurance products to Ghanaians.

Speaking at the Facts Behind the Figures programme on the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, Mr Sowah highlighted the bank’s intentions, saying “We have an agenda of moving into various countries and we are prosecuting that agenda. We do hope that we will make investments into other countries and that will inure to the benefit of people to have the opportunity of going out to learn new things and to teach people what they have learnt here,” he told investors, media and brokers.

Expansion

He added that the bank was set to introduce new products as part of efforts to expand its operations, promote digitisation and improve the quality of service it rendered to customers and the general public.

GCB’s mobile wallet, Internet Banking with trade solution and mobile application, would all be launched by July this year, while agency banking would be introduced in December 2019, the CEO said.

Mr Sowah added that the bank had decided to diversify and was looking to boost other incomes.

In this direction, the bank was converting its subsidiary, Development Finance Holdings, into a full investment bank to be known as GCB Security Limited.

“That subsidiary is going to do all the works in investment banking in this country and compete for business in terms of book running and investments.

So, we do hope that we will create another stream of income from that,” he added.

Transformational banking

Mr Sowah said as part of the bank’s strategic plan, it would focus on providing first-class banking solutions to all customers and create value for stakeholders, saying “the bank will rely heavily on safe, secure and convenient mobile and digital banking to drive the agenda of bringing banking to the doorstep of the people.”

He added that the bank would rope in people from all walks of life, especially the un-banked, into the banking system in a way they had never experienced before.

“We also have a mobile banking wallet, which is coming out shortly and will be accessible to the public,” he stated.

Speaking on the digitisation of the bank, the Deputy Managing Director, Finance, Mr Socrates Afram, mentioned that GCB Bank would be aggressive in its approach to digitalisation to drive revenue in the coming years.