Innovation Key To The Growth Of The Financial Sector

The Vice President of Groupe Ideal Charles Arkuh has said the financial sector in Ghana has to take strategic decisions in order to sustain the industry .He made this remark in an exclusive interview to address development in the sector key among them being the emergence of mobile money.

Mr Arkuh disclosed that the advent of the mobile money program is a good venture. “It is critical thinking that led to this creativity. He therefore challenged the industry to come up with products to enable them take advantage of the development to further boost business in the years to come.

He again advised financial institutions to partner or collaborate with players in the telecommunications sector to maximize the potential of the use of technology.

Touching on the issue of non-performing loans in the financial service sector, Mr Arkuh noted that it is an area of great concern to all financial institutions. He cited instances where prospective borrowers attempted to outwit the system with the use of fake documents. He urged banks and other industry players to strengthen their risk management practices so as to minimize the risk of default.

‘’There should always be the issue of trust in both ways for the clients and the institution. “Customers must check the basic regulators requirement before investing with a financial institutions firm to avoid the recurrence of the DKM scandal .Again, financial institutions should do checks thoroughly before giving out loans” he acknowledged.

On the way forward for the industry, he advised clients who intend to invest with financial institutions to do a little background check to assure themselves that they are dealing with a credible institution. This will go a long way to avoid another ‘DKM’ scandal happening.

He cautioned Ghanaians to spend wisely and remember always to save and invest with one of Ideal Financial Holdings subsidiaries like Ideal Finance Limited, the CIMG emerging brand of the year 2015, FirsTrust savings and Loans, and Ideal Capital Partners Limited an investment and assets management firm with the best of investment products and services for the average Ghanaian.