Mike Ezan – chairman of board of directors of the bank
Loan defaulters of Ankobra West Rural Bank at Esiama in the Western region will face court action if they fail to repay their loans on time, Mike Ezan, the bank’s board chairman has declared.
“Many of our borrowers have defaulted in honouring their obligations to the bank, so the non-performing level of our gross loans and advances is on the increase. The bank will resort to the courts to recover these bad loans,” he stressed.
Speaking at the19th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank at Esiama last Saturday, Mr. Ezan said bad debt provision had increased to GH¢22,835, an increase of GH¢11,585 or 102.9 per cent in 2010 which was charged to the profit and loss account of the year.
He disclosed that the main branch of the bank is now fully computerized for customers to transact business in a more congenial atmosphere, adding that “our bank now has full complement of experienced and graduate staff”.
Philip Cobbinah, Assistant Director, Banking Supervision of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), said his outfit had established a Consumer Reporting Unit to respond to consumer complaints, investigate issues involving their rights, advise customers and answer questions, among others.
He called on the shareholders to ensure that directors of the bank had a mix of skills, experience and knowledge in accounting, finance, economics, law and entrepreneurship for the bank to grow in leaps and bounds.
The Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, Eric Osei-Bonsu, in a speech read on his behalf, advised rural or community banks close to each other to merge and provide better financial services in a wider catchment area.
He said rural banks should re-orient their staff to embrace excellence in customer services as a culture and not as a tool in doing business.
He hinted that BoG was collaborating with some the communication networks to develop E-money products to reach the under-banked and unbanked members of the society to grow the clientele base and deposits of all rural and community banks.
From Sam Mark Essien, Esiama