GCB Bank Limited has recorded a phenomenal growth in its unsecured personal loan sales of more than GH¢700 million within three years.
Besides, the Bank had registered over 1.5 million transactions per month from less than 100,000 transactions in four years.
The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Simon Dornoo, who disclosed this at the launch of the rebranding of the Bank in Accra, said this demonstrates the growing confidence of customers in the Bank’s ability to meet their needs.
With the launch of the new brand mark, the GCB logo has evolved from a static to a soaring eagle, aiming at higher heights and reach with a new tag line: “GCB -your bank for life.”
The new brand mark made up of an eagle symbol and a logotype “GCB” with color pallets that combine beautifully to give expression to a new dynamism and freshness as well as the enduring relevance of the Bank’s Ghanaian and African heritage.
It also reflects its strength as a strong, accessible and reliable banking partner and projects a new image of a modern and progressive bank with a commitment to superior customer service through technology and best practice.
These were unveiled to mark the beginning of a new corporate image and identity which comes with the upgrade of branches in phases over the next five years into a modern bank with state-of-the-art facilities.
With the rebranding, more branches are expected to be opened in areas where GCB was under-represented in line with current demographic patterns.
The bank’s operating profit has also increased from GH¢20million to GH¢320million, while deposits have also doubled over the last four years.
Mr. Dornoo said this performance has moved the Bank from a 20th position on the banking league table to number one, in terms of overall performance and returns on investment.
The Bank has doubled revenues from GHC200m to GHC560million, increased operating profits from GHC20million to GCH320million, and doubled deposits over the last four years, he added.
A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mrs Helen Mona Quartey, said the time had come for state-owned enterprises and institutions to position themselves in order to make profits and pay more dividends to prop up the country’s national revenue base.
She charged local banks to look for new openings outside the country and take advantage of them with the right approach and strategy.
She commended GCB for remaining a strategic partner to the government in trying moments, saying: “Government operations would have suffered if GCB did not exist.”
The rebranding of the bank after 61 years of its existence in the country, she said, was expedient considering the changing nature of the industry, increasing client sophistication and the need to get the youth, who form the largest population in the country, to come on board.
“The rebranding of the Bank should not just be reflected in a name change or colour scheme adjustment but should epitomise the new resolve to make a difference both in business and in society.”
“The new brand should focus on increasing operational efficiency, delivering good quality service and making sure that ‘the customer is King,” Mrs Quartey said.
She expressed government’s delight at the effort of the board and management of GCB for building a new brand for the bank, adding that, the Bank has been a reliable partner through very tough times.
“A brand which has been around more enough to experience the challenges the economy has been through as well as the successes we have chalked as a country”
She said government still considers GCB as a strategic partner since it is the only bank that has branches in remote areas, where most institutions would not go, to bring banking service to the door steps of the ordinary Ghanaian especially the farmers, teachers and health workers in the rural areas.
The interim Board Chairman of GCB, Mr Elliot Gordor, said new banking policies in the country had led to growth in the banking sector and GCB was thus repositioning itself to be among the top banks in Africa.
He said GCB had gained a lot of investor and stakeholder confidence through its commitment to implementing best practice standards in the way it did business.
He announced that the Bank intends to consolidate its position as the leading bank in the country as well as expand its activities into the sub-region to capture the increased capital flow into the region.
Mr Gordor said the re-branding of the Bank was inspired by independent research, in which players indicated that the brand differentiation, coupled with brand management and superior customer service, would provide a competitive advantage.