In a bid to make the country a cashless society to position itself against global challenges, the
Ghana Commercial Bank
(GCB) on Tuesday, in
Accra
, introduced the 'GCB MasterCard' to spearhead this agenda.
The Master Card introduced is the first of its kind in the country and is an international electronic card that allows transactions in over 1.8 million Automated Teller Machines (ATM) 7.5 million Points of Sale terminals globally. The Master Card also serves 25,000 member financial institutions worldwide and provides services in more than 210 countries and territories.
GCB is the first country to be granted a
MasterCard
principal status with the right to issue cards, acquire related products and sponsor other banks as affiliates to enable them issue their own cards. The Bank is also one of the few banks in
Africa
to hold both
MasterCard
and Visa principal licenses to facilitate one-stop cards services from the top global card brands.
The Managing Director of GCB,
Lawrence Adu Mante
said his outfit was concerned with the changing dynamics of the world, hence the introduction of the
MasterCard
to facilitate business transactions. He said the initiative embarked upon by GCB was also to sustain its business through globally-accepted banking services and standards to the convenience of its clientele.
The Card according to the MD offers financial flexibility, convenience and security across borders and urged the public to be hooked unto the Card. The
MasterCard
comes in three categories namely; GCB Standard Debit MasterCard and is targeted to a large segment of its retail customers, GCB Gold Debit MasterCard aimed at the banks high Net Worth customers and GCB Corporate MasterCard for companies, institutions and other businesses.
Mr.
Adu Mante
said GCB over the next 12 months would be expanding its range of international branded card products and services to include Merchant acquiring, GCB family of
MasterCard
credit cards, Visa ATM acquiring and GCB Visa Debit and Credit cards.
The Minster of State at the
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
, Dr. Akoto Osei who launched the product urged Ghanaian companies to strike partnerships and alliances with the global community to open the economy up for growth to enable them acquire the links, capabilities and standards for the international market.
"Talking about global opportunities means that we as Ghanaians must start focusing on high quality standards. We must ensure that good quality standards are adopted in whatever we do, otherwise we will not be able to penetrate the international market. Maintaining high quality standards will expose us to renowned partners of international repute as we see with GCB's collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide", he noted.
Mr.
Van Lare Dosoo
, Deputy Governor of the
Bank of Ghana
, said the introduction of the product demonstrated the many dividends of macroeconomic and social stability and investor confidence in the country.
He noted that the product would open
Ghana
to global opportunities associated with card transactions and also contribute to the development of internationally acceptable payment systems in the country.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
