Savings in cheque now acceptable

By Boahene Asamoah
Previously it was not possible for savings account holders to pay in cheques into their bank accounts at any of the commercial banks operating in the country., and this had posed great problems for businessmen who have transacted business and receive cheques for payments.
Now, most savings account holders who had encountered the difficulty of lodging cheques into their accounts will be smiling following a directive by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) that all banks in the country should accept cheques as deposits into savings accounts in order to stimulate and encourage sound financial services in the country.
A Deputy Governor of the bank, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who announced the directive in Accra at the inauguration of the EB-ACCION, a savings and loan company, stated that “from now on, if someone issues you a cheque, you will be able to deposit it into a savings account”.
Dr Bawumia described the practice where banks refused to accept cheques as deposits into savings as inimical to the opening of and operations of savings accounts.
“This practice is anachronistic and discourages the opening of and operation of savings accounts,” the deputy governor stated.
He said to encourage the unbanked and the underbanked public in the country, there was the need to review the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy of banks to take into consideration of the socio-economic environment.
Dr Bawumia stated that under the current situation, “many of the unbanked are turned away, because they are unable to produce evidence, such as proof of address or utility bill.”
The new KYC would encourage the least-income earners such as market porters or ‘kayayoo’ to get hooked into the banking system, saying the account opening procedures for people engaged in low-value transactions should be simplified.
“For these accounts, proof of residence such as utility bill, while desirable is not obligatory unless where the bank considers otherwise,” Dr Bawumia stated.
Turning his attention on the global oil and food prices, Dr Bawumia stated that the economy had been able to withstand oil prices of up to $147 per barrel.
Again, Dr Bawumia stated that Ghana was not the only country going through inflationary pressures and mentioned Chile, Turkey, South Africa and the US, Sweden, India and the Eurozone, which had all exceeded their inflationary targets by 216, 175, 171, 150, 115, 110 and 100 per cent respectively.
Ghana’s inflation target has been exceeded by 104 per cent.
“The major difference, however, is that while economic growth is slowing down in most of these countries, growth in Ghana is on the increase,” Dr Bawumia stated, adding that “it is important to recognise the role of fiscal and monetary policy framework supported by the structural reforms that have underpinned this performance”