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Accra, Ghana, February 28, 2017
— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and The MasterCard Foundation today announced an advisory services agreement with CAL Bank to introduce and roll out agent banking over two years. The $2.0 million agreement will increase access to financial services for low-income customers, small scale entrepreneurs and farming communities in Ghana.
IFC will support CAL Bank’s plans to implement an expansion and financial inclusion strategy with research to identify opportunities in the market that will help the bank develop the best products to service its customer base. CAL Bank plans to build a network of agents located around its branches to service its customers. To support the implementation of this new service delivery model, IFC will help CAL Bank to develop at least two new banking products to be delivered via the agent banking channel.
“This partnership with IFC underpins CAL Bank’s existing strategy to expand our distribution channels across Ghana,” said Frank Adu, Chief Executive Officer, CAL Bank. “Today’s social environment places a premium on time and convenience, which is driving the need to be innovative in our service delivery. CAL Bank is determined to make our banking services easily available and accessible to our customers, using agency banking as one of the modes of delivery.”
IFC will advise CAL Bank on the appropriate digital financial products to meet the needs of customers, based upon extensive research to be conducted on how they manage their finances. To help CAL Bank manage the risks associated with introducing alternative delivery channels, IFC will also provide advice on a digital financial services risk management strategy. IFC will draw on its depth of global knowledge to help CAL Bank attract more customers, using marketing strategies that articulate the new services the bank offers in an accessible way.
“IFC was an early investor in CAL Bank in 1990, so we appreciate this opportunity to continue providing that support to its expansion strategy into digital financial services,” said Vera Songwe, IFC Director for West and Central Africa. “IFC’s deep expertise in digital financial services will be critical to help CAL Bank promote economic development and job creation in Ghana.”
This project is part of the Partnership for Financial Inclusion, a $37.4 million joint initiative of IFC and The MasterCard Foundation to expand microfinance and advance digital financial services in sub-Saharan Africa.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About The MasterCard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation works with visionary organizations to provide greater access to education, skills training and financial services for people living in poverty, primarily in Africa. As one of the largest private foundations its work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. Based in Toronto, Canada, its independence was established by Mastercard when the Foundation was created in 2006. For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit
www.mastercardfdn.org
. Follow the Foundation at @MastercardFdn on Twitter.
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