Sunyani(B/A), July 03, GNA - Customers in queues at various banks in Sunyani on Tuesday complained bitterly about the slow pace at which the banking staff received and honoured withdrawals with the introduction of the new Ghana cedi notes and coins.
When Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited Ghana Commercial Bank, some of the visibly angry customers were still in a long queue to deposit, exchange or receive the old and the new cedi notes.
Some of them expected fast transactions to enable them attend to their business activities, whilst other just rushed there to catch a glimpse of the new currencies.
At Nsoatreman Rural Bank, Mr John Owusu, a trader stressed the need for managements of banks to organize regular seminars to educate staff about the computerized aspect of the re-denomination exercise to help facilitate transactions.
"I can see that these workers are confused about how to use the computer to convert the old into the new cedi notes," he said.
Madam Lucy Yeboah, a trader expressed satisfaction with the special features of the new Ghana cedi notes and appealed to the public to handle the currency with care to enhance its lifespan.
Mr Seth Kunutsor, Area Manager of Ghana Commercial Bank said there was bound to be a rush at the initial stage of the exercise. He said they had therefore created an additional cage to serve customers and working on the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) to function effectively.
Mr Kunutsor appealed to their customers to exercise patience since the bank was committed and prepared to address problems during the exercise.
Mr Eugene Attipoe, Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of Bank of Ghana (BoG) advised the public to exercise restraint since the old currency was still a legal tender until December 31.
He explained that because there was no price control system in the country, the central bank could not interfere in the transaction process of business entities, adding, "What rather matters to us is the circulation of the new Ghana cedi currency".
Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, during a tour of some banks to ascertain the situation, appealed to financial institutions to exercise patience for customers, especially petty traders who were still grappling with the conversion into the new currency.
He noted that although the exercise had taken off, most of them still needed ample time to be conversant with the new currency. Mr Baffour-Awuah commended the banks for the adequate measures put in place and their hard work to ensure the smooth implementation of the exercise adding; "some of you even had to work extra hours to ensure its success".
At the Capital Rural Bank at Abesim, Mr Kwaku Damoah, Branch Manager, told Mr Baffour-Awuah that the bank had not received some of the coins and this was posing a problem since they were not able to exchange monies for school children who wanted to change their monies below 5,000 cedis.
"The problem might have stemmed from the distribution by the Bank of Ghana," he said.
Mr Kofi Asamoah, Branch Manager of Baduman Rural Bank, shared the same sentiments, saying the bank was supplied with only five Ghana pesewa coins without the rest.
He said they were yet to encounter any problem as enough education had gone on with both the staff and customers. Mr Yaw Osei-Aboagye, Branch Manager of NIB, said he was not surprised with the huge turnout at the bank because they had expected it.
He said rendering services had rather been slow as compared to other normal working hours because they were exercising caution to prevent the bank running at a loss.
Mr Osei-Aboagye noted that even though enough publicity had been given to customers, "most of them are still writing cheques in the old currency".
However, he said customers would still be assisted in every area they needed assistance.
Mr Michael Osei Onwona, Branch Manager of Barclays Bank, stated that the exercise took off smoothly and were prepared to handle all problems.
He said most of the customers who trooped to the bank were either there to deposit money or withdraw money, adding, a few non-customers had also been there to exchange the old currency.
Mr Onwona said security had been tightened and "we are ready to serve both customers and non-customers who will come here for transactions as measures were put in place long ago to handle any challenges".
As Ghana News Agency breezed through the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, pockets of curious residents, workers, traders and the public could be seen admiring the new notes with glee and satisfaction.