Juaben Rural Bank making inroads in banking sector
The Juaben Rural Bank Ltd at Juaben in the Ashanti Region, has attracted the attention of business watchers around the globe following receipt of its first global award, the International Star Award for Quality (Gold category) in Geneva, Switzerland, way back in 2013.
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Besides winning the international award, the bank had earlier won a number of awards locally and in the West African sub-region.
The bank recently won another prestigious international award in France, the World Quality Commitment Award (Platinum category), which was awarded to it by the Business Initiative Directions (BID), on October 22 this year in Paris.
Awarding institution
The Business Initiative Directions (BID) is an international institution which recognises qualitative and leadership, and creates and promotes the culture of excellence around the world leading to positive impact on the lives of people wherever it is present.
With over three decades of working experience, BID has experts who select candidates to be rewarded for their efforts based on the following criteria: excellence in leadership and management, quality and productivity, business prestige and brands as well as technology, innovation and growth.
Performance
The Juaben Rural Bank was established in 1984 and has since been working very hard to transform itself into a fast-growing bank.
The bank’s successes have been based largely on the discharge of its core mandate, as observance of its key performance indicators from December 2007 to September 2017.
In the period under review, the bank’s deposits as of December 31, 2007, stood at GH¢7,306,640 as against GH¢62,201,099 in 2017, an increase of 751 per cent over the decade.
In 2007 the bank’s investments stood at GH¢2,602,099 but rose to GH¢27,033,323 in 2017, marking a 939 per cent rise.
The total assets of the bank a decade ago stood at GH¢8,639,323.11 and now stands at GH¢87,991,058 in 2017, having shot up by 918 per cent.
Clientele
The continued improvement in the bank’s performance, coupled with its good customer care experience, has led to a rush by many into doing business with the bank, particularly in its operational areas.
For instance, the number of customers that did business with the bank in 2007 was 52,806 but this has shot up in 2017 to 141,345, an increase of 168 per cent.
Meanwhile, the bank’s issued shares in 2007 were 3,595,879 but have moved to 11,427,568 in 2017.
Likewise, the number of shareholders of the bank has increased from 2,563 to 4,096 within 10 years.
Additionally, its Capital Adequate Ratio has risen from 16 per cent in 2007 to 23.31 per cent this year in spite of the numerous challenges confronting the banking industry in the country.
Gratitude
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Asante Krobea, attributed the successes chalked up by the bank to commitment on the part of the board, management and staff to offer customers the best of services and products.
He dedicated the latest award to the staff for their readiness to satisfy customers in whatever way possible at all times and thereby placing the bank as the first port of call among other competing banks in its areas of operations.
Mr Krobea pledged the readiness of the bank’s management to continue working very hard to satisfy shareholders, customers and all other interest groups whose contributions had made the bank what it is today.