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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which is spreading very fast and, has so far, infected over 1.2million people globally continues to impact negatively on human lives and national economies.  In Ghana, the number of infections is over 200, with 5 fatalities as at today, as published by wordometer.info, a trusted source for credible real time world statistics on numerous issues.

The Government of Ghana, has consequently announced a partial lockdown of the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas, which have reported the most cases of COVID-19 infections in the country. With the lockdown, the movement of people is restricted and nonessential businesses have all shut down operations for a minimum period of two weeks, subject to Government review.

The prevailing limited movements have resulted in a slowdown of economic activities in the restricted areas. This has made most essential service providers to scale down operations to meet the resultant reduced demand. Forward-looking service providers have actively been repositioning themselves and educating customers on the need to resort to digital modes of transactions.

Economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana, Godfred Bokpin has however said that the coronavirus outbreak forcing people to work from home reveals gaps in the country’s digital landscape.

According to Professor Godfred Bokpin, the coronavirus presents an opportunity for everyone to upgrade their digital literacy.

Meanwhile, Ecobank Ghana, a proactive subsidiary of the Pan African Banking giant, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, has come to the rescue of its customers. The bank is currently fully operating 15 brick and mortar channels within the lockdown zones. This is complementing the many digital channels that are available for use by their customers and members of the general public, who have no accounts with Ecobank. Branches that are located outside the lockdown areas are working fully throughout the week, except Saturdays. The bank continues to call on customers to opt for technology-driven banking in order to lessen the risk of moving around. This will also minimise the rate at which customers touch physical cash and the negative consequences in the wake of COVID-19.

At the last count, the bank’s digital platforms included; over 2,200 Ecobank Xpress Point agents for cash payments and withdrawals, 15,000 EcobankPay Merchants, who provide Mvisa and MasterPass QR code Scan and Pay services for cashless payments, about 205 ATMs, including several Intelligent ATMs that accept deposits. Ecobank Mobile is a unique banking App that provides users the true alternate to branch banking.

Users of Ecobank Mobile can virtually perform all banking transactions anytime without the need for cash or the need to visit a bank branch. The Ecobank Mobile app is available on Google Play Store or the App Store for easy download by all. For high value transactions, the bank encourages customers to use its internet banking service, which functions whenever wherever. Ecobank OMNI and Ecobank Omni lite are the respective platforms for large corporates and small & medium enterprises. Ecobank has a dedicated contact centre that operates 24/7 on toll free, 3225, providing remote technical support to customers to facilitate online transactions without hustle. Ecobank’s social media handles are very active and ready to provide answers to all concerns of customers. The following branches remain operational from 8:30am to 3:00pm Mondays-Fridays in the lockdown regions;

1.      Ecobank Head Office, Accra

2.      Ecobank Tema Main

3.      Ecobank Hospital Road, Tema

4.      Ecobank Spintex, Accra

5.      Ecobank A&C, Accra

6.      Ecobank Abeka Lapaz, Accra

7.      Ecobank Silver Star Tower, Accra

8.      Ecobank Osu, Accra

9.      Ecobank Madina – Firestone, Accra

10.  Ecobank Dansoman, Accra

11.  Ecobank Weija, Accra

12.  Ecobank Kasoa, Accra

13.  Harper Road, Kumasi

14.  Bantama, Kumasi

15.  Kumasi Stadium

The bank has, for now, put a hold on Saturday banking in all branches nationwide until further notice.