Mr Simon Dornoo Managing Director of GCB Bank Limited (GCB) has identified the Bank’s spread through Ghana and its expertise in the inbound remittance service as very important building blocks which enhance international inward money transfer.
GCB is therefore well-positioned as the Bank of Choice for remittance services in Ghana, he added.
Speaking at the launch of the strategic partnership of GCB and Ria International Money Transfer, in Accra today, Mr. Dornoo noted the importance of the foreign remittance business as a source of income for many emerging countries including Ghana.
While remittances provide an important source of foreign exchange to support balance of payments, they are more stable in the wake of external shocks and constitute an important source of household income supporting basic consumption as well as investments in education, entrepreneurship and healthcare.
According to a World Bank Sponsored study, remittances are the second highest international inflow of funds to developing nations including Ghana and these are expected to reach USD440 billion this year.
Quoting the Green 2.0 Report of July this year, Mr. Dornoo said migrants send more money to their home countries than donor agencies send by way of grants.
Mr Dornoo described the partnership between GCB and Ria International Money Transfer as mutually beneficial due to Ria’s global network and GCB’s spread throughout Ghana.
He said GCB has been playing an important role in facilitating transfers of money to the remotest areas in the country to sustain livelihoods.
“In this regard and in furtherance of our commitment to be ‘your bank for life,’ GCB can now make money remittance services even more accessible to our customers and clients by expanding our geographical coverage to include the Americas and Asia-Pacific and this has been made possible by our strategic partnership with Ria,” Mr Dornoo said.
El-Hadji Malick Seck, Ria Managing Director for Africa said the partnership between GCB and Ria would be extremely profitable.This is because Ghana has become very important in the remittances business in West Africa due to its disporan population and market behaviours.
Mr Robert Kotei, Operations Director, Ria Africa, noted that the infrastructural and ICT developments in GCB will immensely complement Ria’s business.He said Ghanaian customers around the world influenced the decision of Ria to partner with GCB for the inward money transfer business.
He urged customers to take advantage of the new partnership saying, “It is a cutting-edge solution” to remittances problems.GCB brings 157 branches and 20 agencies across Ghana to complement Ria’s network of 147 countries and 272,000 locations in this partnership.
