BARCLAYS HOLDS SECOND MINI DRAW (NSEMPA, PAGE 20)

By Akwasi Ampratwum Mensah, Berekum

THE second mini-draw of the “Wheels of Surprise” promotion by Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited, has been held at the premises of the Berekum Branch of the bank, in the Brong Ahafo Region, with Mr Michael Ayisi, a customer of the Makola branch in Accra, emerging the winner with a DSTV-Dish, decoder and free installation as well as three months free subscription as his prize.
Mr Jeffery Telly Quainoo of the Maamobi branch, and Mr Jim Blankson Hemans of the Legon branch of the bank, both in Accra, won the second and third prizes in that order and have received the same items and services from the bank as their prizes.
The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh prizes were taken by Messrs George Asare of the Berekum branch, Emmanuel Osei, Agoogo in Ashanti, Tabi Tawiah William of the Darkuman branch and Robot Enterprise in Tema and for their prizes, Mr Asare and Mr Osei were presented with 21-inch colour television (TV) set each while Mr Tawiah and Robot Enterprise took home mobile phones each.
The first mini draw of the bank’s promotion was held a couple of weeks ago at Kasoa in the Central Region, and the winners of the two draws qualified for the final draw to be held before the end of the year and which has a Jaguar Saloon car at stake as the ultimate prize.
Speaking at the function, the Head of Consumer Banking of Barclays, Nana Dwommon Benneh, said it was the intention of the bank to move to every corner of the country to do business with the people.
He stressed that with the bank’s 91 years operation in Ghana, it would continue to work harder to satisfy the aspirations of its numerous customers, adding that, there were lots of products that both current customers and prospective ones would enjoy.
“We cherish our dear customers so we want to provide quality services to them, especially in the coming years, Mr Benneh emphasised.
In his welcome address, Mr E.O. Lamptey, the Berekum Branch Manager of Barclays disclosed that a little over one year now when the bank opened a branch at Berekum, it could boast of about 12,000 customers in the municipality who were enjoying a variety of their products.
He indicated that, as a new branch and starting with three officials and a cashier, “we did extremely well to cope with the anticipated pressure to balance our work even though in the end we closed from the office at about 11:00p.m. This baptism of fire became our resolve that we would aim at hard work and excellence.
In another development, Capital Rural Bank Limited, a privately owned financial institution with its headquarters at Abesim, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, has opened its third agency at Fiapre also in the Sunyani Municipality with the second one in the Sunyani township itself, in its fifth year of operations.
The chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr Yaw Peprah-Agyemang, disclosed at the ceremony that, even though the bank was one of the youngest rural banks in the country, it had been able to meet the minimum capital requirement of GH¢150,000 by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
He added that, as the second youngest bank in the Brong Ahafo Region, it could boast of an asset base of about GH¢3million and also indicated that the bank was among the few rural banks in Ghana that, had fully computerised its operations, saying that, providing efficient services, high interest on savings and easy access to loans, was in conformity with the avowed aim of the bank to provide affordable and accessible banking services, relevant to the needs and aspirations of the people in its catchment area and Ghana as a whole.
Dr Peprah-Agyeman pointed out that, apart from the banks first year when it suffered a minor loss, Capital had been very profitable in the remaining years, stating that, for the past two years, “we emerged the most profitable rural bank in the Brong Ahafo Region, despite being the youngest,”
The Vice Chairman of the Regional Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks, Mr Kofi Bonsu Boakye-Boateng, advised the youth in the area to invest their money in profitable ventures such as buying shares in the bank rather than engaging in alcoholism, drug abuse and other social vices, which would in the end ruin their lives.