ARB Apex Bank Limited has asked the public to disregard claims that the Bank of Ghana is set to withdraw the licences of Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) across the country as part of the clean-up of the financial sector.

It described as “malicious”, an audio message circulating on social media which claimed the central bank was preparing to clean-up the rural and community banking sector after closing down some banks, microfinance companies, and savings and loans companies for being insolvent.

“The Bank of Ghana has completed the clean-up exercise and will not ‘descend’ on RCBs as is being maliciously circulated,” ARB Apex Bank said in a statement Thursday.

The statement explained that the Bank of Ghana in its notice of August 16 made it clear that rural and community banks were key in its financial inclusion agenda, hence it was going to work with the ARB Apex Bank to reposition rural and community banking sector.

The move by the central bank, it said, will help the RCBs “to better support rural economic development”.

It has thus asked the public and the customers of RCBs “to ignore the malicious message and do business with the RCBs”.