There is intense competition in the banking industry today. On the last count, there were about 28 universal banks as well as a large number of micro-finance companies.
“The competition is stiff,” the Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB), Mr Ernest Mawuli Agbesi, admitted in an interview, but added that “we are carving our niche market in that competitive industry.”
He explained that success beckons any bank or any service industry in Ghana’s growing economy if that enterprise took into account the concerns of the customer.
Mr Agbesi said it was to give recognition to the saying that “the customer is king” that the NIB recently organised the Customer Appreciation Week.
“The objective was to appreciate our customers and demonstrate to them that without their support we could not have made this phenomenal progress,” Mr Agbesi said.
He said during the celebration of the week that the bank dedicated a day to descend from the high profile dressing to identify with the professionals and made-in-Ghana outfits regularly to make them feel that the NIB appreciated those who had sustained the bank to the level where it was one of the most preferred banks in the country.
History
NIB was established in 1963 as a development bank to spearhead the industrial development of Ghana. For most part of this history, the NIB has been involved in the equity and debt financing of industries.
For example, the NIB has shares in Nestle Ghana, Total, Novotel, Accra Markets Limited, Metro Mass Transit Company, Nexan Cable Metal and NTHC.
Some senior members of the bank serve on the boards of the companies that NIB has provided with equity.
But with the passage of the Banking Act of 2004, all banks were given the green light to be universal.
Mr Agbesi said as there was no place for special banking, NIB had ventured into retail and corporate banking and introduced a wide range of products in order to stay in business.
Branch localities
Apart from the head office branch, the NIB has 37 branches located across the country. Between 2014 and 2015, the bank opened nine branches. These are Asokwa in Kumasi, Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, Hohoe in the Volta Region, Mallam in Accra, the Law Court Complex in Accra, Airport City in Accra, East Legon, Parliament House (Job 600 Complex) and Agona Swedru in the Central Region.
According to the bank, six more branches were envisaged for opening in 2016. These are Sawla, Northern Region; Nkwanta in the Volta Region, Mampong in Ashanti, UDS Main Campus in Tamale and Suame in Kumasi.
Explaining the rationale for the location of the branches, Mr Agbesi said Agona Swedru was the most commercial town in the Central Region and, therefore, it made sense for the bank to be there.
Also, he said with the construction of the Eastern Corridor road underway, major towns on that road would be active again and it was for that reason that branches at Hohoe and Nkwanta would play a strategic role in saving mobilisation.
Mr. Agbesi said the opening of a branch in Yendi as the major commercial town in the Northern Region with a link to the Eastern Corridor road to Bimbilla would not only help to reach the unbanked but provide opportunities for business people to access credit.
He explained that a number of factors were considered before a branch was opened and enumerated them as the business potential of the area, land availability and access to other commercial towns.
The bank, he said, was also trying to position itself well to offer an electronic platform to all its customers.
Branch expansion
He was optimistic that NIB was on the threshold to becoming the bank of choice all over the country when its plans to expand to all corners materialised by 2017.
Mr Agbesi said the Airport City branch was a very important business unit because of the business activities springing up in the area, such as hotels, shopping malls and offices.
He said with 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) having access to the Parliament House branch, the bank was ready to serve the MPs.
Mr Agbesi added that the Law Court Complex branch in Accra would provide the avenue to reach out to the Bench, the Bar, litigants and workers of the Judicial Service and even those in the Ministries area.
Mr Agbesi said the plan of the bank was to bring the branches to 48 next year and climax the activities of the branch expansion with an additional four by the end of 2017, saying that the plan was to have 52 branches by that timeline and be in tune with “our vision to become the most renowned Ghanaian bank for growth and efficiency.”
He said besides the general banking services that the bank extended to its customers, the NIB had products such as “Boafo” Loan, “Adwadifo” Loan, “Daakye Nkosua” falling under SME products; CEPS Guarantee and GHACEM Guarantee under its Development Finance products; Ghana Water bill payments, student loans repayments, National Lotteries (Redemption of winning coupons); under third party products and Mobile cash management services and Domestic Money transfer formed part of other services.
Above all, Mr Agbesi said the ultimate objective of NIB was to live its mission of offering “the highest quality and customer focused banking services to our clients and to create value for our shareholders.”
Source: Graphic