By:Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh
Email:[email protected]
Management of Ghana Commercial Bank Limited (GCB) has hinted that plans are underway to rebrand the premier bank in the West African country.
The move is to position the leading universal bank above severe competition from the other banks. The rebranding of the bank will also enable GCB to provide world class banking services to its plethora of customers across the length and breadth of the country.
Unveiling the banks’ 60th anniversary logo in Accra, yesterday, the Managing Director of GCB, Mr Simon Dornoo added: “This year we are looking towards introducing to you a rebranded bank that will make you all proud. We have listened to our over 2 million customers and the general pubic.”
He continued: “2013 will be a year during which the nation’s premier Bank, GCB, takes banking to another level. We will outdoor a new ultra-modern retail branch design to fit the refreshed GCB brand”.
GCB’s achievements over the years, its rejuvenation and re-direction make the celebration of the Bank’s Diamond Jubilee worth celebrating, Mr. Dornoo stated.
Given historical background of GCB, the MD of the bank noted that the bank that was set up as the Bank of the Gold Coast under an Ordinance passed by the then Legislative Assembly in 1952.
GCB, as Ghanaians have endearingly come to know and call us turns 60 this year. It is a historical milestone of events and experiences spanning 60 years of interaction with the regulators, customers and business entities, investors and the community alike, Mr Dornoo indicated.
Furthermore, he was quick to add: “In the period before 1935, our forebears, God Bless them, realized very early that achieving rapid economic transformation was very critical and the vehicle to achieving this objective was the creation of an indigenous bank”.
At this point, he asked all gathering at event to rise up to observe a minutes silence in recognition of our forebears for the belief, trust and confidence they had in the establishment of the GCB.
Taking a walk down memory lane, Mr. Dornoo explained that there were two expatriate banks in 1952 and we were told that they were not very supportive of indigenous businesses.
The indigenous enterprises and companies could not obtain the necessary credit facilities to start or grow their businesses. There was therefore the need to address this concern, he stated.
They were also those cynics, of course, who thought an indigenous bank would neither see the light of day nor survive.
60 years on, that indigenous bank, has not only offered banking services to the nation but has broadened its scope of operation from small businesses to large corporate entities.
GCB, now the financial supermarket of the nation, has and continues to introduce products for the benefit of the various groups of our society having chalked first in some of the most innovative banking products introduced to the country.
The MD was happy to say: “At the nerve centre of any locality where the nation is endowed with any natural resource, be it gold, timber, bauxite, iron ore or cash crops, you are bound to find a GCB branch. GCB has brought banking to the door – step of Ghanaians and is poised to entrench its leading position in Ghana while preparing for geographic expansion”.
Here, we are in 2013 , celebrating 60 years of banking which coincides with a time when Ghana has discovered oil, and GCB is on hand to extend its services to business operating in this sector.
GCB in its 60th year is well – resourced and well-positioned to drive the new Ghanaian economy with the oil industry playing a major role, he assured the business community.
At 60, the GCB family was proud to recount some of their achievements. Starting the bank with a single branch in 1953, they could now boast of 158 branches and 15 agencies. Evolving from the Class 299 machine of old, they could lay claim to one of the most robust I.T systems this nation could boast of.
From the brick and mortar days of branch banking, GCB today operates a full multi-channel banking service through reliable and secure internet, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), post of sales (POS) device and channels. Its services are also now accessible internationally.
Briefing on the anniversary programme, the Chief Transformation Officer of GCB, Mr Samuel Sarpong said the bank was celebrating the anniversary on the theme: ‘GCB-60 Years of Service to Ghana-Customers, Business and Community”.
He indicated that the celebration peak period starts from April to June 2013, saying : “As part of the celebration, a number of activities will be organized. These include a round table discussion among a representation of financial institutions in Ghana, service to the community in various forms and finally the presentation of a rebranded GCB”
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