The new brand, which comprises a new logo, tag line, core values and visual representation, was unveiled on August 2 at a ceremony in Accra.

It brought to three the number of times the bank has rebranded within its 27-year history.

CAL Bank, an indigenous bank, started operations in 1990 as Continental Acceptances Limited but its logo was reviewed in 1994 to reflect trends at the time.
In 2004, the bank was rebranded to reflect its status as a listed entity.

Thirteen years down the line, CAL’s Managing Director, Mr Frank Adu Jr, said the bank had come to the conclusion that rebranding was necessary to “foster a closer bond of relationship between the bank and our customers”.

With the successful re-launch, Mr Adu Jr said CAL would now leverage the new identity to deliver enjoyable customer experiences and engagement.

“We want CAL Bank to be remembered. It is our aim to make the CAL brand a dependable brand but more importantly, it should be loved beyond reason,” he said at the event.

He expressed confidence that CAL Bank’s new identity would become the underpinning pillar and driver of its resolve to continuously grow its revenues, deepen its presence in corporate banking, become a leader in retail banking and a major player in the digital banking and payment space.

Ghanaian success story

The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson P. Asiama, said the central bank was proud to be associated with CAL Bank’s story.

He said the bank was a true Ghanaian success story, given its rapid growth from the days of a merchant bank in the 1990s to a publicly traded bank that now controls 4.6 per cent each of the banking sector’s total deposits and assets.

“These financial indicators are reflective of a burgeoning bank that is ready to scale up its activities within the industry; hence, the new branding,” he said.

As financial institutions sell almost the same products and services, Dr Asiama said branding was key to acquiring and retaining customers in order to maintain long-term profitability.

“Competitive edge lies in creating and maintaining a favourable brand image in the minds of customers. It is about how to win a piece of the customer’s mind and how to create a positive image in the customers mind so that whenever he or she thinks of banking services, the first thing which comes to mind will be the name of the particular bank,” he said.

Genesis of rebranding

Mr Adu Jr explained that a three-year growth strategy that started in 2015 required that the bank reviewed its brand and invested to ensure that the brand would continue to be “relevant in today’s hyperactive banking space”.

“That set in motion a tedious review process that took 15 months to complete,” he said, and added that the process reviewed the bank’s character, ethos, values, information technology (IT) infrastructure, service delivery and service scope.

Thanks to the rebranding, the bank’s tag line will now be ‘Moving forward together,’ while its logo comprises two pedals that represent the letters C and B.
The bank’s colours have also been changed to yellow and orange “to effectively communicate the new direction of the bank and its customers”.