Jim Baiden
Fidelity Bank, as part of efforts to improve its financial inclusion drive, has met its stakeholders to brainstorm and review its financial inclusion agenda with a focus on Inclusive Banking and Agency Banking.
The consultative meeting had representatives from Fidelity Bank, Financial Sector Deepening in Africa, (FSDA) and Genesis Analytics to deliberate on how to improve access to formal banking for the over 15 million unbanked people in Ghana.
Fidelity Bank in March, 2014 launched its Agency Banking model with its flagship product, the Smart Account, to provide basic financial services to the unbanked and under-banked population.
Being the only bank licensed by the Bank of Ghana to operate the Agency Banking Model, Fidelity Bank today has a Smart Account customer base of over 300, 000.
The bank currently has over 900 agents strategically located nationwide to service these Smart Account holders.
These agents include pharmacy shops, supermarkets, utility vendor points, grocery shops, among others.
In line with its resolve to increase Ghana’s bankable population ratio, Fidelity Bank is streamlining its financial inclusion agenda with focused input into its Inclusive Banking and Agency Banking strategy in order to reach out to the unbanked people in Ghana.
Julian Opuni, Divisional Director for Retail at Fidelity Bank, said Fidelity Bank wants to tailor its value proposition to the target audience to ensure that the goal of involving the underbanked and unbanked is achieved.
He added that Fidelity Bank’s Smart Account is uniquely designed to offer customers convenience to open accounts with minimum KYC in five minutes, easy access to cash through 75 branches, 110 ATMS and over 900 Agents, ability to grow money daily with a trusted institution where their money is secured and access to soft loans with minimum turnaround time.
Director for Change Management & Building Services Markets at FSDA, Paul A. M. Musoke, commended Fidelity Bank for incorporating inclusive banking into its mainstream banking.
A Business Desk report