Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) has won a total of three coveted awards at the 10th edition of the Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards (GITTA) held at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on Friday, November 13, 2020.

The Bank was adjudged the Most Improved Bank in Best Use of Technology at the awards ceremony. The other two awards was presented to the Chief Executive Officer of UMB, Benjamin Kwabla Amenumey who was adjudged the ICT-Driven CEO of the Year and the Ag. Head of IT at UMB, Sylvester Yao Apedoe received the CIO of the Year award.

The awards are a testament to the Bank’s continuous commitment to enhance the experience of their valued customer through the use of new and efficient banking technologies that are safe, convenient and secure.

The Bank was adjudged, in previous years, the Best Bank Award for Cyber Security Risk Management at the GITTA - putting to four, the number of times it received the coveted award for its investment in ICT which seeks to secure its cyber environment and customers.

Speaking to Joy Business, Chief Executive of UMB, Benjamin Amenumey said, "in 2019 we decided to be seen as a digital bank within the next three to five years so we made conscious efforts to improve our ICT infrastructure so we engaged by letting all our staff know that this is where we are going so we got ISO certification, PCI DSS certification, now we have strengthened our bank-end strongly."

The UMB CEO also hinted at plans to provide digital solutions to the bank's SME customers.

"By 2021-2022, we will also be letting our SME customers feel at home such that there wouldn't be the need for them to come to the bank but will be able to do a lot of activities on their own." he said.

The GITTA awards scheme which was themed, " Celebrating a Decade of ICT Excellence" recognized the efforts by individuals and institutions playing an outstanding role within the telecoms and the broader information technology industry.

The event attracted industry giants and key stakeholders from the Ministry of Communications, National Communications Authority, Bank of Ghana and many others.