Mr. Alex Kwesi Awuah, the Acting Managing Director (MD) of the ARB Apex Bank, has stated that customers need to bank at their convenience, hence the need to embrace technology to help provide banking services to customers.
This, he disclosed has become necessary, as customers’ desire to conduct digital financial transactions have increased due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Every customer needs convenience. It gives them the opportunity to use the [digital] platform to transact with the institutions.
“They [customers] do not need to use the banking halls, especially, aftermath the COVID-19 pandemic, is the way to go, and ARB Apex bank is not left out.”
Mr. Alex Kwesi Awuah
The bank’s Managing Director made this statement at a financial inclusion workshop that was held in Accra.
Alex revealed that the financial sector is beginning to experience some strong and enduring trends that are gravitating towards online customer-business interactions.
Mr. Awuah noted that, his outfit is implementing the agency banking platforms, which comes with mobile banking and internet banking.
He explained that these developments will make the rural banks expand their operational network to make them more accessible to as many people as possible.
However, he added that they will continue to use ‘brick and mortar’ in order to attract more agents to expand their activities.
This, Alex unveiled, is a relatively affordable approach, and will also make their activities more visible within their scope of operation.
ARB Rural Bank’s MD added that “implemention is underway, and we expect that when it is fully operationalized, as many Ghanaians as possible can transact business with them”.
Government’s digitalization agenda
Ghana’s digitalization agenda is on a growth trajectory, as government has committed prudent efforts to make Ghana a technologically inclined economy.
As part of this digitalization drive, government through the banks, Fintechs and state agencies, have implemented various digital financial transaction vehicles such as Ghana.gov, GhQR pay, Ghipss Instant pay, among others, to provide digital services to Ghanaians.
The e-Cedi, Ghana’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is part of government’s digital payment agenda. Government plans to use the e-Cedi to augment the use of physical cash.
Meanwhile, Mr. Awuah revealed that the move to embrace technology, is part of the bank’s commitment to Government of Ghana’s (GoG) digitalization agenda for the financial sector.
Government, last year, launched three policy initiatives designed to deepen financial inclusion and accelerate digital payments.
These policies are the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy, the Digital Financial Services Policy, and the Cash-Lite Roadmap. They are in line with the government’s vision of building a payment system that accelerates economic development.
In the meantime, the First deputy governor the bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari in May during the 5th CEO’s summit confirmed government’s commitment to formalize the economy through digital technology.
“The push for financial digitization was intensified with the removal of transfer costs (for minimum transactions) on mobile networks, and the Universal Quick Response Code for payments across banks, Telco’s, fintechs and merchants was implemented to promote e-commerce and e-transactions.”
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
ARB Apex Bank in its capacity functions as a ‘mini-central bank’ that provides infrastructural servies to rural and community banks (RCBs).
The bank also helps the RCBs to grow their market share and increase financial inclusion through the provision of core banking capabilities.
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