First Rand Bank of South Africa has officially began operations in Ghana under the name First National Bank. Persons interested in banking with the bank can now do business with them.
This comes after First Rand Bank received final approval from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to start operations in the country in August this year.
The South African lender in a mail to Citi Business News said it hopes to help reduce the about 70% unbanked population in Ghana.
First National Bank prides itself with an excellent track record in many jurisdictions based on an excellent product offering, especially in the digital space (online and mobile banking) as well as a reputation for providing outstanding customer service.
Though the bank anticipates to record losses in the first years of operation in Ghana it says there is a plan to adequately take care of those losses.
In 2013 South Africa’s biggest finance group, First Rand Bank owners of First National Bank was one of the main bank’s that expressed interest in acquiring Merchant bank now Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).
The Bank of Ghana subsequently approved the sale of Merchant Bank to private equity firm, Fortiz, after SSNIT, majority shareholder of Merchant Bank, rejected an offer from First Rand Bank.
Source: Citifmonline