This, according to the bank, would enhance job creation and make them viable in their respective industries.

Speaking at a customer appreciation cocktail organised by the bank in Accra, Togbe Afede XIV, Board Chairman of the bank, said the NIB was also positioning itself to meet government’s expectation.

The Customer Appreciation Week was instituted to thank customers for the support and patronage of the bank’s products and services over the years.

“Government’s expectation is to see financial institutions such as NIB undertake a lot of financial intermediation in the country.

The government, for instance, expects a repositioning of the bank to support its entire developmental agenda like “One District One Factory”, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’, ‘Free SHS’, etc,” he added.

The Board Chairman said the bank was also keen on deepening its support for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

“The SME sector is very important to every economy and Ghana is not an exception. The sector has the potential to help create jobs, and also solve the unemployment challenge the country is faced with. SMEs also have the potential to grow into corporate entities that can propel the economy,” he said.

This sector, Togbe Afede said, had been under-utilised and access to finance is strenuous for players in the sector, adding that, “We at NIB have increased our appetite for risk and always engage them to understand the nature of their business and always able to support them.”

He therefore, urged SMEs to improve their management skills and knowledge in book-keeping and basic accounting to enable them to conduct their businesses professionally.

Togbe Afede said the bank, in 2017, continued to pursue its aggressive strategic plan, which aimed at expanding our service delivery points in order to increase its market share and maximise shareholders wealth.

“I can assure you that our branch expansion strategy towards deepening financial inclusion and to bring our products and services to the doorstep of our valued customers is on course. In line with this we opened six new branches last year. This has increased our branch network to 52 as of today,” he said.

The bank used the occasion to launch its Fastlink Service which would enable customers perform banking services on the mobile phone.

Togbe Afede XIV said the service enables all customers to transfer funds from one NIB account to another, transfer funds from an NIB account to accounts with other banks, buy airtime, pay bills, among others.

The bank also re-launched its internet banking service which offers banking convenience to customers.