Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana Limited, formerly Barclays Bank, Abena Osei-Poku, is confident the bank will ride on the back of innovative solutions to maintain its dominance of the banking sector.
Speaking at the official launch of Absa Bank Ghana, Mrs. Osei-Poku said: “Solidly anchored in the Ghanaian economy for over 100 years, we will continue to partner and collaborate with the government and urge the business community to also do same, so together we can create a prosperous nation for the people of Ghana.”
The transition from Barclays Bank to Absa Bank Ghana begun three years ago when its parent company Barclays Bank Plc based in the UK took a decision to reduce its shareholding in its Africa subsidiary. The reduction of the controlling stake necessitated a change of name to suit the new majority shareholder, Absa Group, based in South Africa.
Mrs. Osei-Poku told guests at the official launch which was also attended by Vice President, Dr. Mahamud Bawumia that, “when we embarked on this journey over 3 years ago, we engaged over 130,000 stakeholders across the continent, including our customers and employees on what we were doing well, and what they wanted us to improve.”
“We took to heart their feedback and have used their insights to build a more innovative, customer-obsessed and 21st-century tech-enabled agile bank that meets the needs of our clients. I would like to assure you that we will continue to connect the ambitions of our clients, the business community and the people of Ghana with financial resources, services, and opportunities in innovative ways that make a difference in their lives.”
The change to Absa will not cause any change in customers’ account details, and the bank’s branches will continue to operate as usual.
Barclays branded cards will continue to work as normal until their date of expiry. Customers can also continue to use their Barclays cheque books until 10th August 2020, after which only cheques drawn on an Absa chequebook will be accepted.
