Bank to launch "Susu" saving scheme this month

Ho, April 2, GNA - The J SABA Agency of the Unity Rural Bank in Ho is to launch its "Susu" savings scheme this April. The innovative scheme is expected to woo small depositors and also inculcate banking and savings habits in petty traders and market women.

Mr Seth Foli, Manager of the Agency gave the hint in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Ho on Thursday. He explained that the "susu" savings scheme became necessary as market-women preferred to keep their monies outside the banking system, deterred by the initial high deposits required to start operating an account coupled with the need to have money readily available for their transactions. Mr Foli noted that the Agency was able to attracted over 2,000 customers since it started operations last June.

"Business is brisk beyond our imagination, there is a bright future for rural banking, the future cannot be understated", he said. He said the Agency's total deposit as at February, this year, stood at 1.3-billion cedis while more than 600 million cedis had been granted as loans and advances to customers. The Manager said the Agency was floating shares at 1,000 per share with a minimum purchase of 100 shares.

Mr Foli entreated traders and workers to take advantage of the Agency's innovative, quality and prompt services adding that "our turn-around-time is very low, procedures and terms flexible". He said the Agency's comparative advantage over the orthodox banks was that it bailed out salary workers with overdrafts in response to the economic realities of the time.

Mr Foli said a new client-friendly Credit Transfer (CT) scheme would soon be introduced as part of a nationwide inter-bank money transfer product. He said the CT product was the outcome of the successful implementation of the APEX Link Domestic Fund transfer facility, which allowed intra-rural banks transaction. Mr Foli said other products like mail and electronic transfers had enhanced and boosted the efficiency of rural banking in the country currently because "our products and services are laid to the doorstep of our valued clientele".