Singapore-based business intelligence group, The Asian Banker has named Barclays Bank Ghana’s “Ultimate Account” as the best deposit product in West Africa for the year 2019.

The award, Deposit Product of the Year, was announced at The Asian Banker West Africa Excellence in Retail Financial Awards 2019 ceremony held recently in Lagos, Nigeria. The Awards recognize banks for their initiatives in delivering excellent products and services that satisfy their customers.

According to the award citation, the Barclays “Ultimate Account” bundles all monthly account transaction fees to lessen the burden of account charges on customers.

“The Barclays Ultimate Account enables its customers to pay a monthly bundled fee to cover all account transactions. This lessens customers’ burden of various account charges and allows them to adequately plan and budget from the account. It has also enabled the bank to rope more Ghanaians into the financial industry by changing existing perception of excessive bank charges,” The Asian Banker indicated.

The product has greatly increased customer satisfaction and supported the significant growth of the banks’ deposit book, it added.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Charles Addo, Director of Retail Banking at Barclays, said “Our Ultimate Account is an unparalleled product in the banking industry. It is a complete package that gives true customer satisfaction with benefits such as free eBanking services, free insurance including funeral, hospital cash-back and retrenchment cover among others”.

“We dedicate this award to all our valued customers who are the reason for our existence. As we become Absa, we will continue to work towards providing the right solutions and service from the heart to add value to our relationship with customers and give them superior banking experience”, he noted.

The Asian Banker West Africa Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards is run in parallel with its international awards event. The expansion of the awards programme to Africa, and in particular West Africa, recognises the deepening and increasing maturity and sophistication of the industry in the sub-region.