President John Dramani Mahama, on Monday asked the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) to design innovative financial products to help the private sector, particularly the youth, in their start-up businesses. He said this in a speech read on his behalf at a flag-hoisting ceremony, organised in Accra to mark the 60th Anniversary of the GCB. Mr Mahama called on the GCB to structure the Bank’s 24-Hour Personal Loan flagship product to take care of the small and medium scale enterprises, and to facilitate access to credit. He expressed worry that though the country was endowed with enormous natural resources, the citizenry lived in poverty and lack access to credit facilities. Mr Mahama said: “lack of finance, and indeed, cost of credit is killing the drive and initiative of private enterprises, and we must reach out to these courageous men and women with innovative products and services.” He asked the GCB to design appropriate financial support scheme to enable inter-regional trade to take off. “This is achievable and I hope that when the next milestone comes to be celebrated this will be recorded as one of GCB’s greatest achievement,” the President said. Dr Kofi Wampah, Governor of Bank of Ghana (BOG), commended the GCB for maintaining its position among the top tier of banks in Ghana in terms of assets, branches and profitability. He observed that the Bank had responded to growing competition in the banking industry, by modernising its operations and expanding its branch network into the hinterlands to reach the “unbanked and underserved communities.” Dr Wampah said: “Ghana cannot afford to relent in its efforts at reaching the unbanked. “The population represented by this segment constitutes a vital part of the national economy and we must make a conscious effort to reach them if Ghana’s development objectives are to be attained.” Dr Wampah commended the GCB for setting the tone for a migration to a “cashless” economy by sponsoring a seminar on the subject. He said: “we can migrate to a reduced use of cash if we patronise the alternative modes such as electronic modes of transactions like the e-zwich card and other card products. Dr Wampah said the electronic modes needed to be patronised to reduce the use of physical cash with all its disadvantages. He said the BOG would introduce limits on the payment to third parties of over-the-counter cheques. This according to him, was to minimise fraud and money laundering, and to encourage the use of payment modes other than cash in transaction settlements. Dr Wampah said: “we will be working with banks to expand access to Point of Sale devices and encourage a migration to the electronic platforms that we have built, including the ezwich platform, the GH link, ACH and mobile money”. He urged the Bank to explore opportunities to reach all sections of society, and to harness emerging technologies to offer services to individuals and businesses in the underserved segments of the population. Mr Simon Dornoo, Managing Director of GCB, said the Bank’s 2013 first quarter financial results showed it was on course to firmly position itself as one of the best performing banks in Ghana. “…investor confidence continues to rise as is reflected in GCB’s share price and today the bank’s market value is up six fold from GH¢196 million to GH¢1.2 billion over the last four years”, he said. The GCB currently has 158 branches, 15 agencies and more than 200 automated teller machines countrywide. The Bank had deployed point-of-sale terminals and it offers internet and short messaging system banking services to its customers.