Dr. Johnson Asiamah, Second Deputy Governor of BoG, said the move was to ensure data security at the highest level. Dr Asiamah, who was speaking at the launch of CAL Bank’s New Brand in Accra, urged all financial institutions and payment systems operators to obtain international security certifications to ensure integrity of the financial system.

He urged the banks and other institutions to conduct regular vulnerability assessment and penetration to ensure quality delivery of services.Touching on branding, Dr. Asiamah said a strong brand would retain customers and increase the profit of banks. He said CAL Bank currently ranks ninth in terms of asset size, as total assets increased from GH¢23.5 million in 2000 to GH¢3.5 billion in May 2017.

 In the same period, he said the bank remained above the industry benchmark of 10 per cent as capital adequacy increased from 11.4 per cent to 19.8 per cent. According to him, macroeconomic imbalances had gradually slowed down with significant reduction in inflation from 18 per cent during the first half of 2016 to 12.1 per cent in June 2017 and relative exchange rate stability.

Dr. Asiamah attributed the decline to favourable base drift effects, and stability in the foreign exchange market.He said the cedi depreciated by 3.9 percent in July 2017 against the US dollar compared with 3.8 percent depreciation during the same period, last year.He said the country’s reserve build up also increased by almost US$1 billion from December 2016 to US$5.9 billion in June 2017, translating into 3.4 months import cover.

 Dr. Asiamah noted that that in spite of the macroeconomic achievements, the overall banking sector was broadly stable despite rising non-performing loans ratio. In his remarks, the Managing Director of CAL Bank, Mr. Frank B. Adu Junior, said the Bank’s performance had been tremendous as branches increased to 28 with more than 100 Automated Teller Machines (ATM’S).

He said CAL Bank had transitioned into a modern financial institution over the past years having been the recipient of many international awards.