The day Kofi Amoabeng jumped a bank counter in anger and why he did so

In this article, GhanaWeb revisits an intriguing episode from the life of Prince Kofi Amoabeng, founder of the defunct UT Bank. In his book, The UT Story – Humble Beginnings, Amoabeng recounts a heated confrontation with a bank over unreasonable loan demands, which led him to take drastic action, ultimately shaping his entrepreneurial journey.

Read details of the article as published on GhanaWeb on August 24, 2023, below:

Founder of defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng has made some interesting revelations about his journey to building his business and growing his career.

According to him, he had to fight for what he knew he deserved at some point when some financial institutions he wanted to secure loans from, were making really absurd requests of him.

As revealed in portions of his book; The UT Story – Humble Beginnings, Mr. Amoabeng noted that at some point, one bank (whose name he withheld), asked that he invest in Treasury Bills of a specific amount as collateral to be able to secure the amount he wanted as loan.

He narrated that although he had opted to give his building off as collateral, the bank refused initially.

They subsequently approved only half of the amount he was expecting; GHC 50 million instead of the 100 million he had requested and additionally asked that he adds his house as collateral.

At this point, he was furious; and he did the unthinkable – jumped over the counter and demanded that his account with the said bank be closed and all his monies given to him.

“I rushed to the bank in very high hopes only to be informed that they had approved GHC 50 million instead of the GHC 100 million I had applied for. And in addition to the GHC 100 million Treasury Bills, they wanted me to add my house as collateral. I became apoplectic!

“They declined my house as collateral and demanded a liquid investment. I struggled to procure the Treasury Bills at a cost. And after three months, they want to grant me half of the amount I had requested. On top of that, they were now demanding my house as additional collateral!

“What do you people take me for? I yelled. [Calm down, Adjei Ansah said]. GHC 100 million Treasury Bills is equivalent to cash!] I yelled ignoring him. So why do you want my house in addition? [So we’ll feel more comfortable, he replied.] If you don’t feel comfortable with the Treasury Bills, then why did you ask for it?” he continued.

This is the point he reacted; “Give me back my documents! Close my account and give me everything in it! I want every damn pesewa in my account! Right now!”.

Mr. Amoabeng continued,

“I did not wait for them to process my request. I scaled the counter and confronted the staff; “I want my documents now!” “Sir, calm down,” they said.

“No! No! No! Don’t give me that bullshit!”. I caused a racket and closed my account. I was infuriated the more because I intended to use my house as collateral to borrow some more money elsewhere,’ he continued.

Eventually, he returned the Treasury Bill documents he obtained from a friend and sold his house to finance his business.