Ecobank Direct Sales Scheme Launched

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 10 June 2006 @ 03:42 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Lagos (IBTimes.com) - With the realization that time and distance major hindrances to people from fully utilizing the products and services it offers, Ecobank Ghana Limited on Wednesday launched the innovative Ecobank Direct Sales Agency (DSA) programme Ecobank's DSA aims to bring the bank's key products and services to the doorstep of the customer through highly trained Sales Agents in Ghana and across West and Central.

They will visit standing and potential customers, provide them with details on Ecobank's key products and services and assist them to conveniently open accounts.

The concept is meant to offer customers the opportunity of experiencing quality banking services from the comfort of their homes, work places and anywhere else they may be located.

With the introduction of the DSA programme, customers will not have to walk to the bank to be served; on the contrary DSAs will come to customers to serve them.

They are not mandated to receive cash but will however assist customers to open accounts without coming to Ecobank. The DSAs are there to see to the customers' need and in essence, make banking an enjoyable experience.

Ecobank is a private sector banking group in 13 countries of West and Central Africa with over 109 branches and offices. Ecobank Ghana
started operations in 1989 as a merchant bank. It operates a 'one bank' concept across a common platform and has a strategic vision of growing into a world-class retail bank.

During the launch, the deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Mr. Van Lare Dosoo, said Ecobank was the first to obtain the universal banking license in February 2003, allowing the bank to undertake a whole range of banking activities. Within these few years, he said the bank had contributed to dynamism in the banking sector with its wide array of products and services with the intention of reaching out to all.

It has done this by increasing its ATM locations, introducing prepaid cards for both account and non- account holders and increasing its
branch network.

For a bank to take advantage of the benefits that a fast-growing retail sector has to offer, it is essential to offer convenience and choice for the customer. He said the introduction of this new service is therefore a further step in the right direction in the bank's bid to become one of choice for many.

"It is particularly gratifying to note that focus of the DSA, in addition to selling the bank's products, will also be to attend to customer service issues, thereby meeting and exceeding customers' needs.

This, I believe, will enhance public confidence in the banking system and encourage more individuals currently in the informal sector to use banks".

The deputy governor said the Bank of Ghana has always encouraged banks to engineer new products and services and use innovative
marketing strategies and tools to mobilize the excess liquidity in the economy.

"It is our vision to create a cashless economy in the years to come". Mr. Albert Essien, a regional director of Ecobank International, said convenience, accessibility and reliability are the key guiding principles of whatever the bank sets up to do and said the DSA scheme is fashioned around the customer's needs.

"We believe the key to success will include a strong focus on the 3Cs of retail banking: convenience, control and choice." The minister of information and national orientation, Hon Kwamena Bartels, giving the keynote address said the era when banks could survive mostly
through the sale of treasury bills was past and banks had to engineer new and innovative ways of business development. He said the DSA scheme would make banking a more pleasant experience for many.

The Managing Director (MD) of Ecobank Ghana, Mr. Samuel Ashitey Adjei, said the bank is committed to excellent customer service and building of a professional and long banking relationships with customers.