The SME Manager for Advans Ghana, Mr. Thomas Tufuor is advising customers to be transparent with their banks since transparency helps in determining the extent to which a customer needs financial assistance.
He said financial institutions are often let down by customers who are not being truthful or try to hide certain important information.
“Being honest and upfront generates trust. It enables the financial institution know you have nothing to hide and so the more transparent you are, the more ready we are to assist”, he added.
Speaking to Kasapa Business News at an SME Breakfast meeting held in Accra for selected customers, Mr. Tufuor said banks need to know about their customers to determine whether the product the customer needs is suitable and if the return outweighs the risk.
He reiterated that transparency and openness is for the good of customers and as such must not be seen as a bother.
Also on digitalization, Mr. Tufuor said Advans Ghana has introduced a new system of banking called Mobi-banking, aimed at satisfying the variety of its customers, especially those in the informal sector.
Explaining how the service works, Mr.Tufuor said the mobi-bank service runs on a USSD shortcode which means all customers can do their banking from any phone whether it has internet connectivity or not.
“You don’t need to be connected to the internet to access the Mobibank service.
We chose this service after we realized that a large number of Ghanaians do not use the internet. The process requires a shortcode and a few instructions to perform any transaction” – he explained.
Mr. Tufuor finally advised customers to take record keeping seriously highlighting its importance in the growth of a business.
Advans Ghana is a financial institution which offers Ghanaian SME’s, micro entrepreneurs and individuals the opportunity to grow their businesses and improve their standard of living.