Intercontinental Bank rolls out two products

Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE Intercontinental Bank Ghana Limited has introduced two new products, namely, the Auto Loan Promo and the I-Cash International, onto the country’s financial service industry.
Launching the products in Accra, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr Albert O. Mmegwa, said the bank had made conscious efforts to identify the needs of its customers and had come out with innovative and tailored products to meet their needs.
“This is to give the best to our customers and provide them with the financial flexibility needed to go about their day-to-day businesses”, he said.
Mr Mmegwa said the I-Cash was designed to help travellers and traders to remit funds within the West African sub-region to meet their financial obligations.
The product would initially be accessed by travellers and traders in Ghana and Nigeria using Intercontinental Bank Ghana and Intercontinental Bank Plc of Nigeria structures and branch network in the two countries, the CEO stated.
He said the services would be extended to include other countries in West Africa as the bank rolled out new subsidiaries.
Mr Mmegwa stated that the customers and general public would have the benefit of security for their cash, same day delivery of funds, lower cost of transfer, safer and easier means of sending money within the sub-region.
Touching on the auto loan, the managing director stated that the bank, together with its partners in the automobile industry, came out with the package, to offer the opportunity to individuals, corporate entities and NGOs to own brand new cars.
Mr Mmegwa said access to vehicles was no longer a luxury in today's world, adding that “vehicles are essential accessories to social life to the extent that the lack of it could make life sometimes so uncomfortable.
“All one has to do is to pick a car of his choice from any of our automobile partners, namely Universal Motors, Auto Plaza, Silver Star Auto Ltd, Auto Parts, Rana Motors and Honda Place and pay five per cent of the value of the car as deposit and drive a brand new car”, he stated.
The Managing Director used the occasion to announce the opening of two new branches of the bank at Madina and Agbogbloshie, which brings the total number of branches of the bank to seven in Accra.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Paul Asimenu, the Director of Legal Division, commended the bank for initiative to facilitate a fast and secure money transfer system between Ghana and Nigeria.
“The targeted beneficiaries are the business persons who transact trade finance deals and those carrying out commercial activities between our countries and across the region and beyond”, he added.
The minister said: “I see this cross-border product as one very important step in promoting interstate commerce.”
Mr Baah-Wiredu, however, cautioned that the bank needed to establish strong measures to secure all transactions through the use of the product to instil confidence in the business publics and prevent criminals and groups from using the product for illegal purposes.