Page 31 - ACCESS ANNUAL REPORT 2019

BUSINESS BANKING
The economic environment in which Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operate remains moderately positive based on the marginal growth experienced in the economy over the past year. ith S Es contri utin si nificantly to the country’s GDP, their performance is closely linked with the overall health of the economy. The Business Banking group of the bank focuses on providin financial services to S Es with a turnover of up to GHS25M.
These customers are captured in key segments as follows:
• Traders & Distributors
• Religious Bodies
• Professional Firms and Associations
• Private Tertiary & Basic Educational Institutions • Religious Bodies.
The group stepped up visibility and engagement with customers in the digital space through closer colla oration with intechs and the exi le payment plat orms they offer. Our dedicated Mobile Money unit in collaboration with the Remittance desk grew our inward remittances substantially in the year under review.
Services Offered & Strate ic thrust Our strate ic intent is to facilitate trade and business transactions at minimal cost, maximum efficiency and security to the various segments we serve.
he power Bi account continues to e the transactional account of choice while the various collection/payment platforms provided in partnership with our Fintech partners ensure that collections and reconciliation of internally generated (within Ghana) payments are managed with ease. Our newly introduced remittance product, Access Africa provides a viable option for SWIFT transfers and payments both within and beyond the African continent.
Highlights
• In line with our strategic intent, 2019 witnessed the outdooring of a number of products including Access A rica a remittance product that serves a number of corridors in Africa such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Congo, Zambia and The Gambia. Also, newly introduced, were products like Unity link and World Remit while ZeePay was upgraded for wider reach. Xoom Money, a remittance service which sits on the RIA platform was also introduced to increase its access and customer usage.
• Mirroring the instant loan service on the Bank’s mobile banking service for retail customers, our Bank intends to fully roll out an Instant Business Loan for our SME customers. We piloted this new service in the last quarter of 2019, and we are confident o rollin it out ully in 2020.
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driving sustainable
Annual Report
growth through innovation