Stanbic Ghana Launches Achiever Power of Choice Proposition

Stanbic bank Ghana, the twenty year old bank operating under the umbrella of the Standard Bank Corporation has launched the ‘Achiever Power of Choice Proposition’, a customer-centric scheme to allow individuals to sign up to multiple products from the bank.

According to the bank, Achiever Banking is a customer proposition targeted at the middle class customer earning a regular salary and provides them with a secure and convenient way to carry out their banking activities.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, Nana Dwomoh Benneh, Stanbic Ghana’s Head of Personal and Business Banking said that the Stanbic Bank ensured that its customers at a sitting could enjoy a record product set about their home and housing needs, vehicle and equipment needs, short-term loans, investments needs, among others.

He explained that the bank acknowledged the different needs of individuals at different times in their lives and so did not want to offer “anybody a vanilla product”.

Concerning the bank’s new product, Mr. Benneh said “It makes it possible for people who have just started the employment ladder to benefit even as they wait to progress into permanent jobs.

“This new product takes advantage of the growing trend in electronic banking, digital products and services to enable you to start to do banking in modern, more convenient and relevant way and over time save you money in terms of the traditional bank charges,” he added.

The Head of Achiever Banking, Ms Lovelace Adjei-Aku, added that the proposition was designed for income earners between GH¢700 to GH¢3,055 and that it was developed based on feedback received during interactions with customers of the bank through sessions and questionnaires.

She said that it looked at the salary market and realized there was a need based on creating money, saving and investing, living a life and considering others (share and legacy).

“We have put all this together to say that for a customer of Achiever Banking, we are ready to offer all these solutions to the individual in one pack,” she stated.

She cited benefits of the bundle package to include free visa card, hospitalization support and retrenchment cushion up, and that the pay as you go includes paperless account origination, free mobile banking and free inter-account transfers.

In an interview with Mr Benjamin Mensah, Head of Wealth, West Africa at Stanbic, the division head said the savings culture in Ghana was not good and there was still a lot of room for development.

He said the middle class typically spent more than they made, and even when they saved, it was very little.

“So, we end up in the spiral of going for loan. It is important that people understand how much money they are making and to be able to spend within their means. Having a personal profit and loss plan or budget is important,” he said.

He advised that individuals should endeavour to save about 20 per cent of the amount they make to learn to live within their means.

Mr Mensah explained that “the Stanbic concept to attain financial independence is framed around a context of how people make money, spend it, save and invest, and share and leave a legacy.”