Business

Two decades of providing cutting edge banking, financial services: The journey of Stanbic Bank Ghana

TThe vision to incorporate and operate a universal financial services organization to offer Ghanaians unparalleled financial services firmly grounded in a deep understanding of the African continent began when Standard Bank acquired majority shares in the then Union History Mortgage Bank Limited, Ghana.

Shortly after the incorporation of Stanbic Bank, the bank acquired a universal banking license with only two branches in 2004. Since then, there has been no turning back. The bank has risen to become one of Ghana’s most admired banks. The success and growth of Stanbic Bank over the years has been built on making a notable difference in the communities within which the bank operates.

Our efforts and commitment to our clients culminated in us being awarded the prestigious CIMG Bank of the Year, 2019. This commitment has spurred uson to harness our resources in a customer centric manner to deliver sustainable and superior value for our key stakeholders in alignment with the StandardBank Group’s vision to be the leading financial services organisation in, for and across Africa.

Our strategy as a universal financial services organization has been buttressed by three focus areas: customer centricity; digitization; and being a true universal financial services organization. Being customer centric goes beyond meeting the needs of our clients to include understanding them and delivering excellent experiences and solutions quickly, reliably and respectfully to earn their trust.

Across the world, technological innovations are changing the way people interact with their environment. With this in mind, we have, through investment in technological infrastructure, positioned ourselves as a Digital Bank.We are delivering all our propositions through secure, personalised, relevant and digitally enhanced experiences to clients and employees in real time. We have taken enormous steps in making Stanbic Bank Ghana a simpler, better and safer bank for our clients.

With the aim of providing comprehensive and tailor-made financial solutions, we have structured our operations to be a universal financial services organization,that delivers financial services seamlessly and efficiently, and where the client has access to and experiences all our propositions relevant to their needs. As we say to all our customers, we are not just a bank but a complete financial services partner who is fully equipped to serve your needs.

Our three focus areas are underpinned byfive strategic pillarsthat help to focus our efforts and to effectively measure the progress. The five pillars are: client focus; employee engagement; risk and conduct; financial outcomes; and social, economic and environmental outcome.

Our strategy and key value drivers have shown relevance as our customer numbers and revenue continue to grow. Over the years, we have showed a strong commitment to please and serve our clients with standards deserving of a world class bank.

We continue to execute through collaboration with various segments of our business including the group, to provide solutions to our clients. These collaborations have been key in driving our income growth. We do and will continue to do the right business the right way by investing in constructive relationships with regulators, our risk and compliance frameworks, standards and policies and embedding an ethical and risk-aware culture, and internal control systems.

As we mark our 20th anniversary, we wish to thank all our clients who have stood by us over the past two decades and trusting us with their businesses and finances. We would not have been here without you. We look into the future with confidence because of your loyalty. To all past and present board members whose strategic directions have steered the bank up to this point, we are grateful. To all the past and present employees of the bank, this is yours. Let’s make the next 20 years the best for our clients. Long Live the Standard Bank Group, Long Live Stanbic Bank and Long Live Ghana.

 The writer is Head, Financial Services Management, Stanbic Bank

By John Prempeh

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