The Central Bank has urged all savings and loans companies operating in the country to put measures in place to help them meet the revised capital requirement of Ghc15 million.
The bank will soon announce a new deadline to that effect, Henry Kofi Akpenamawu Wampah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has indicated.
Dr Wampah, who made this known in an address read on his behalf during the official opening of ABii National Savings & Loans Limited at Avenor Junction, Accra at the weekend, said credit risk was the most significant risk that financial institutions faced recently.
He urged management of such institutions to maintain high standards in credit administration and delivery in order to ensure that shareholders’ capital was not dissipated in loan and other operations losses.
“The formal banking system in developing economies such as ours tends to ignore the low end of the market which it perceives as risky and unviable. This has prevented banks from making inroads into that segment of the market.”
“The entry of ABii National into the financial service industry of Ghana will obviously increase the existing competition to the betterment of customers.
With a customer deposit of Ghc17.5 million within one year of operation, ABii National now boasts of ATMs, which are linked to gh-link, the national switch.
Managing Director of ABii National, Godfried Osei-Boakye, said Abii services and products are tailor-made to suit different micro businesses.
“We are also working with one of our partner banks to roll out a Visa prepaid reloadable card that will enable our regular traveler customers and non-customers alike, load cash in cedi and spend in dollars anywhere in the world. We are also working in partnership with GhIPSS in the rolling out of eZwich point of sales devices.”
It is estimated that there are 2.5 billion adult people worldwide who do not have access to formal financial services.
The World Bank’s Global Findex Surveys also state that almost 80 percent of people living on incomes of less than $2 per day are financially excluded.
