Societe Generale (SG) Ghana has inaugurated its 40th Branch at East Legon, in Accra, to serve customers in that area and its environs, with a pledge to continue serving the specific needs the Bank’s customers.

Mr. Gilbert Hie, the Managing Director of the bank, said the new ultra-modern facility was opened to meet the demand of its customers for a branch in the area, a demonstration of its commitment to customers.

He said the East Legon Branch was the second, after the Ashaiman branch, to be opened this year, adding that a third would be opened in the Airport District before the end of the year.

The new facility would offer full banking services with a 24-hour ATM.

It also has a MoneyGram and Western Union Money Remittance service area to make receipts of remittances at the bank convenient.

Mr Hie said the new branch would be a hub for SG’s Retail and SME activities, including investment products, insurance products, loans corporate and international business services.

“As our clients are the focus of our decisions, this branch has been strategically positioned to ensure that you have easy access to a host of Societe-Generale’s friendly and experienced frontline staff to help answer your enquiries,” he said.

He said the bank viewed its relationship with customers as win-win situation and had developed new products such as the Privilege overdraft, Visa Gold Card Insurance, and other insurance products to meet the specific needs of its customers.

In an interview with the GNA, Mr. Hie said the bank would soon add a Life Insurance product to its portfolio.

He explained that insurance would become an important business for the bank in the next few years, with the introduction of insurance products to complete its offerings.

He said the bank currently had two General insurance products and it was seeking approval from the Bank of Ghana to offer Life Insurance products.

“We will be in both businesses; general and Life Insurance,” he stated.

He said the move, aside from complementing its product portfolio, is also meant to mobilise deposits from its customers, a major challenge in the banking industry.

He attributed the deposit mobilisation challenge to competition for funds from government through securities such as Treasury Bills and Bonds, which offered very good rates to customers.

This, he said, had necessitated the development of new products to attract more deposits and new customers.

Mr. Kofi Ampim, the Board Chairman of SG Ghana, said in line with the Bank’s objective of building customized branches to cater for the particular needs of each community, the East Legon Branch would have a French-speaking customer service relationship desk to cater for the French and Belgian students of a French school located in the area, as well as other French speaking West African clients.

He commended the management of the bank for completing the project on time and urged staff of the branch to work assiduously to justify the confidence the bank had reposed in them.

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, top management and staff of the bank, as well as some customers graced the ceremony.