The President of the Bankers’ Association says the industry will have to come up with more banking solutions that will drastically reduce the need for customers to visit their branches. Asare Akuffo says the branchless banking concept appears to be the way out of the long-standing debate over high interest rates. He was reacting to suggestions that the high cost of acquiring and operating the plush branches that banks are rolling out significantly increase their cost of operations, and add to the high interest rates. It could cost anywhere in the region of 300 thousand Ghana cedis to set up a branch and another 100 thousand or more to manage each year. Though the Bankers’ Association President makes a case for the brick and mortar which house their operations, he concedes a lot of the costs could be avoided if banks explore a lot more branchless banking initiatives. Source: Joy Business/Ghana