Ecobank has been adjudged the Best Bank for the Year 2012 but it was Prudential Bank who stole the show, winning eight awards, at the Ghana Banking Awards organized Saturday at the Trade-Fair Centre, Accra. The Bank of the Year award is the most coveted among 20 categories which were up for grabs. It is given to the bank with the highest weighted scores for customer survey, corporate social responsibility and financial performance. A delighted team of Ecobank senior staff received the award which was presented by Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group who are also sponsors of the award category. The Bank of the Year award is Ecobank’s sixth, after it won the same award at the maiden edition in 2001. It has also won it three consecutive times from 2004 to 2006. The bank also picked up three other awards – Best Bank in Financial Performance, Best Bank in Competitive Pricing and was 1st runner-up for Corporate Banking category. Ecobank was established in 1990 and is a member of the Pan-African Ecobank chain which operates in thirty two (32) countries. The bank acquired 100% interest in The Trust Bank (TTB) in December 2011. Interestingly, it was Prudential bank who stole the show as its team got up to receive award after award to the surprising stares of the packed audience. The bank won Best Bank in Long-term Loan Financing, Trade Financing, and Consumer Lending. It was 1st runner-up in Best Retail banking, IT/Electronic banking, Short-term Loan Financing. It also second runner-up in Corporate banking and Corporate Social Responsibility. Prudential Bank won the highest number of awards - an impressive eight. They were followed by Unibank- winning six awards. There were no winners for two categories – Innovation and Export financing. The Ghana Banking Awards is a vehicle to showcase and applaud best performing banks in various categories of the Ghanaian financial services market. The event is in its twelfth edition and is organized by Corporate Initiative Ghana. It was on the theme ‘Promoting Ethics, Integrity and Compliance in the Financial Services Industry’. Below is a comprehensive list of winners. Categories and their winners Bank of the Year Winner: Ecobank Gh Best Bank in Advisory services Winner: 1st Atlantic Ist runner-up Unibank 1st runner-up - ICB Corporate Social Responsibility Winner: ADB 1st runner-up: UT Bank 2nd runner-up: Prudential Best growing bank Winner: Access bank 1st runner-up: 1st Atlantic 2nd runner-up: Fidelity Short term loan financing: Winner: Unibank Gh 1st runner-up: Prudential bank 2nd runner-up: Zenith bank Mobile banking Winner: GT Bank 1st runner-up: Stanbic bank 2nd runner-up: CAL Bank Medium term loan financing: Winner: ADB 1st runner-up:Stanbic bank 2nd runner-up: CAL Bank IT/Electronic Banking: Winner: Unibank 1st runner-up: Prudential bank 2nd runner-up: UBA Export financing : No winner Best bank innovation: No winner Competitive pricing: Winner: Ecobank 1st runner-up: Stanbic 2nd runner-up: ADB Best Retail bank Winner: Unibank 1st runner-up: Prudential bank 2nd runner-up:UBA Long-term loan financing: Winner: Prudential 1st runner-up: Unibank 2nd runner-up: Zenith bank Corporate Banking Winner: Zenith 1st runner-up:Ecobank 2nd runner-up: Prudential Best bank in trade finance Winner – Prudential bank 1st runner-up: Zenith bank 2nd runner-up: Fidelity Best Bank: Customer care Winner: 1st Atlantic 1st runner up – Unibank 2nd runner up – ICB Agric financing Winner: ADB 1st runner-up:UT Bank 2nd runner-up: SG-SSB Consumer lending Winner: Prudential bank 1st: Unibank Financial performance Winner: Ecobank 1st runner-up: Stanbic bank 2nd runner-up: CAL Bank Trade finance deal of the year was a ground-breaking $60m deal to finance energy production by an independent power producer. The banks who financed the deal were CAL bank, Guarantee Trust bank, Zenith and HFC bank.