The Bank of Ghana has been urged to revise the age at which one can own and run a Savings Account.

The current age limit of 18 is said to hamper efforts at imbuing the culture of savings into the youth.

Managing Director of HFC Bank Asare Akuffo says a revision is needed to encourage savings in the country.

According to him, the current arrangement is that a parent is required to give approval to any person below 18 to have an account.

This, he said “affects the market and any product that is youth-targeted because the young person might want to open an account but would have to go and look for a parent or a guardian for an endorsement before the account could be opened”.

Mr. Akuffo also said this inhibits the growth of youth-related products and “we think that there must be a discussion around the table to find a more flexible way for the young people to be able to open an account without having to get an adult involved. There must be a way to emulate best practices in the world.”

Mr. Asare Akuffo who spoke with Joy Business at a Multi-stakeholder Conference on Child and Youth Financial Services in Ghana said the importance of catching them young is what has made other countries able to get people who really understand finance.

He added that if the youth of the country are able to build relationships with financial institutions at an early stage, it would eventually give them access to much needed finance to grow a business and do whatever is required as a human being.

“This is very important in order to attract more young people because anybody who has a savings account becomes more serious and starts focusing on money,” he stated.

Director of the Youth Save Project of the Save the Children, Rani Deshpande said the habit of savings, particularly by the youth, can be enhanced if banks made it a point to always deliver on their promises.