The North Volta Rural Bank (NVRB) at Guaman in the Jasikan District in the Volta Region continues to make positive impact in the lives of the people as it has granted loans and overdrafts to support 1,731 clients – agriculture, trading and salaried workers – in the last financial year.
The bank granted GH¢414,439 to 1,204 customers in agriculture, GH¢898,100 to 925 customers in trading and GH¢798,651 to 1,197 regular income customers, totalling GH¢2.11 million within the period.
Although the total income of the bank increased as compared to last year, it made a reduced profit of GH¢37,491 over the previous year’s profit of GH¢270, 232 which was attributed to high operational cost, depreciation and taxation.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr Patrick Ata, disclosed this at the 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank at Guaman, read on his behalf by a member of the board, Mr George Donkor High bandwidth charges.
He said the high bandwidth charges contributed to the exceptionally high operational cost and appealed to the ARB Apex Bank and the Bank of Ghana to seriously review the cost for rural and community banks located in rural areas since it could lead to the closure of some of the branches which provided critical banking services to the rural people.
“We have appealed in previous AGMs for something to be done about this and cautioned that this would lead to the closure of not just branches but also the collapse of many RCBs. This is indeed happening and it requires an urgent intervention,” he stated.
In an address delivered by the Manager of Internal Control Department of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Archibald Bond, he said the Apex Bank had developed its own Know Your Customer (KYC) principles, comprising KYC Compliant Account Opening Form and the G-Vive platform for the verification and authenticity of identification documents presented by customers.
He said that was aimed at preventing criminals from using their system for fraudulent acts. Mr Bond said rural and community banks (RCBs) should rethink their interest rates policies and review upwards the interest rates on savings to enable them to raise more deposits.
Key strategy
He said a key strategy had been designed to make RCBs multi-channel service providers hence the desire to improve the ICT platform to enable them to sustain their current businesses and attract new businesses through timely and cost-effective delivery of products and services needed by their valued customers.
Mr. Bond reminded management and shareholders of the bank that the banking landscape kept changing with respect to regulation, technology, competition and customer expectation and advised them to respond promptly to these changes through new and improved services and product.
Source: Graphic