Accra, March 21, GNA - Ghana Commercial Bank on Tuesday said it has now networked 95 of its 133 branches countrywide representing two-thirds of its branches. A statement issued in Accra said the increase was 200 per cent over the Bank's 2004 position and meant to facilitate business activities among individual and corporate clients as well as the small and medium enterprises.

The statement said the Bank currently had three networked branches in each region, adding that apart from the two Upper Regions, which had three branches networked, the Northern Region had five branches networked while Brong Ahafo Region had eight branches networked. Ten of the branches in the Western Region are networked with six branches in the Central Region and another six in the Volta Region. Greater Accra has 25 branches networked including all the branches in Accra, while Ashanti and Eastern Regions have 16 and 13 branches linked, respectively.

Mr Issifu Issah, General Manager of GCB's Systems and Information Technology Division, commenting on the new development described GCB's branch development networking as unprecedented. "We hope the bank can achieve 300 per cent growth over the 2004 position by the middle of this year." He said that GCB would soon introduce a number of ICT-enabled products and services for the benefit of its clients and the public.

GCB plans to install 28 more Automated Teller Systems (ATMs) at some of its branches as well as off-site locations. The statement said the wide area network meant customers of one GCB networked branch could access their account at any other GCB branch on the network even though the clients account was domiciled elsewhere. "Customers can deposit money into their accounts, withdraw money and also transfer funds to beneficiaries through the Bank's network," the statement said.