Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) has presented a full scholarship to the 2019 overall best WASSCE candidate, Melisa Abena Okyerewaa Amoah, at the WAEC Distinction Awards ceremony.

This puts to six, the number of times the bank has presented full scholarships to deserving students.

The awards ceremony was held at the Sakyi Asare-Menako Hall on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, to recognise and reward the best performing candidates in the 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

UMB, with the full educational scholarship, will provide funding to cater for Melisa’s tuition, accommodation and books for the entire duration of her course at the University of Ghana, Legon.

She also received a cash amount one thousand cedis (GH¢1,000) on her UMB SpeedApp account, a brand new laptop and some branded gift items from the bank.

The second and third overall best candidates, Nana Adwoa Sereboo Agyemang and Ewurabena Esiboaba Cudjoe were each presented with brand new laptops, cash and UMB branded gift items.

Chief Executive of UMB, Benjamin Amenumey in his remarks noted, “This scholarship programme is much more than a corporate social responsibility initiative for us at UMB; it is in fact a civic responsibility of helping build a great nation through education, which is the passport to a great future.”

He further stated that as an indigenous bank, UMB would continue to empower the youth by encouraging them through such financial interventions, as he believes this will encourage parents to motivate their wards to excel in their respective courses in school for a better, brighter future.

UMB officials led by the CEO; the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa; Country and Regional WAEC officials; Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah and many other dignitaries attended the event.

The overall best WASSCE candidate, Melisa A. O Amoah, and her family expressed their gratitude to the bank for the kind gesture and entreated current second-cycle students, especially the final year students, to be diligent in their pursuit of excellence even beyond the classroom.

The bank is a full-service financial institution specializing in customized banking products and services. UMB opened on March 15, 1972, and is a leading Ghanaian indigenous bank with considerable financial expertise. UMB is recognised for its entrepreneurial approach, innovative use of technology, and distinctive banking solutions.

UMB currently has thirty-six (36) branches, three (3) UMB centres for businesses, 1 UMB PPP Incubator Centre, a vast network of ATMs and a convenient and innovative mobile banking application, the UMB SpeedApp.