Cal Bank partners IFC to roll out Agency Banking services

The Cal Bank has signed an agency agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to deploy agent banks, in a bid to reach the unbanked, and mobilise deposits at cheaper cost.
  
Mr Phillip Owiredu, Executive Director of CAL Bank Limited, said in light of the increasing competitive nature of mobile money to the banking industry as well as other liquidity challenges, the Bank had started to engage partners to come up with a roadmap to ensure that they were able to mobilise low-cost deposits from the retail sector.
  
Speaking at the second 2017 ‘Facts behind the figures’ session, organised by the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra on Wednesday, he stated the agreement was expected to be deployed before the end of the year and was expected to have a significant impact on the performance of the Bank in a few years.
  
CAL Banks expects to deploy about 1000 agent banks in the next three years, which is expected to mobilise an estimated six million dollars in low cost deposits. 
  
The channels will also be used to deploy other services for other agencies.
  
Mr Owiredu also noted that the Bank would also pursue avenues to increase its non-funded income in 2017. 
  
Government, he said was raising a number of bonds, thus bond trading was an income line that it would focus on to generate revenue.
  
“We’ve done the necessary things we have to do in terms of training, setting up a platform. We have re-implemented our core banking application so trading income is something that we’re going to pursue aggressively this year to ensure that we increase our non-funded income,” he said.
  
Ms Dzifa Amegashie, the Investor Relations Manager, said the banking sector in Ghana had grown significantly despite the challenges that it had faced. Currently, there are 33 banks in the sector; 17 foreign, three state-owned and 13 local banks.
  
She noted that the biggest growth in the sector was in the number of local banks, with the entrance of banks like Omni Bank, Premium Bank, and Sovereign Bank to the sector, a phenomenon she described as a good sign.

Source: GNA