GCB Is Bank Of The Year

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) has been adjudged as the best bank in Ghana by the financial Times (FT) group of the United Kingdom at the 2009 global banker awards that was held in London.

This is the fifth time that GCB has emerged as the ‘Bank Of The Year 2009’ in the country awards category.

The Financial Times (FT) group said, “GCB posted impressive results in 2008 and maintained a low non-performing loan ratio of just two percent.”

In its findings, the organizers said GCB launched a number of progressive and innovative products in 2008, including Royal Banking, Internet banking (Commernet Plus) and Mastercard.
It said the bank improved its payments technology with the launch of smartpay.

GCB, the magazine contended, maintained a strong growth in all aspects of the balance sheet.

The net profit of the bank grew by an impressive 14 percent in 2008 while its assets grew impressively to GH¢1.6 billion in 2008, representing a 43 percent growth compared to the previous year.

The banker magazine lauded GCB for opening 11 branches in 2008 and installing 50 ATMs nationwide, adding that “this brick and mortar approach to banking in Ghana had a positive impact on deposits, which grew by 24 percent in 2008.”

The head of Credit Risk and Financial Planning at Ghana International Bank, Sam Reynolds-Boison received a certificate and an award on behalf of the Managing Director of GCB, Lawrence Adu Mante.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Mante said in future the bank would place more emphasis on customer needs, electronics, mobile phone technology and internet.

“New business investments will be required to improve Information Technology (IT) delivery structure and a refreshing culture,” he said.

By Emelia Ennin Abbey