Jacobu (Ash), Aug 27, GNA- The ARB Apex Bank has put in place innovative measures to ensure that the activities of fraudsters operating in some rural banks in the country are nipped in the bud. Mrs Eunice Osei-Bonsu, Public Relations and Marketing Manager of the ARB Apex Bank, who announced this, noted that some members of the fraud syndicate took advantage of non-observance of laid down procedures and internal controls to facilitate their dubious activities. Addressing the 20th annual general meeting of the Odotobri Rural Bank at Jacobu in Ashanti at the weekend, Mrs Osei-Bonsu said, "We have noted with concern, the unfortunate cases of incidence of frauds, which took place in some rural banks".

She charged the Odotobri Rural Bank to strengthen its internal control mechanisms and also ensure strict compliance with rules and procedures on clearing to forestall any attempt to defraud the bank. Mrs Osei-Bonsu said to avoid the tragic consequences associated with poor internal controls or total absence; the ARB Apex Bank was encouraging all rural banks to have an internal audit unit as part of their management structure.

She said the internal auditor was to help oversee the implementation of the bank's systems and controls since "a good bank without proper internal controls is only waiting for a disaster to occur".

She observed that it was imperative for the management of rural banks to increase the paid-up capital and profitability in order to improve on shareholders' fund. She announced that under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programme, all rural banks head offices and agencies would be computerized within three years. Mrs Osei-Bonsu said the benefits to be derived from the computerization project was enormous as it would improve operational efficiency and also enable the full integration of the rural banks into the national payment system. She commended the Odotobri Rural Bank for a generally satisfactory performance over the years.

The bank's performance in the area of deposit mobilization, quality of advances, adequacy of capital, liquidity management and profitability and other performance indicators has been good. "This is a commendable achievement which must be sustained", Mrs Osei-Bonsu emphasised. She, however, stressed the need for the Directors of the bank, management and staff to work as a team to enable them to achieve the objective set for the bank.