BoG denies licensing any 'coins bank' to operate in Ghana

Elsie Addo Awadzie, second deputy Governor of  the Bank of Ghana

The Bank of Ghana has denied giving license to a US-based coins bank that is said to have purportedly announced commencement of business in Ghana.

The coins bank specializes in borrowing and lending money and currently has branches operating across the world except for Africa, where it has recently given notices that it will start operations in soon.

The bank is said to have served a notice to commence business in Ghana but the Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it is unaware of the operations of this new bank.

“We as regulators of the banking industry have the mandate to approve and license any operator that wants to operate as a bank and to our knowledge we have no application from a coins bank to operate as a bank,” Elsie Addo Awadzie, the 2nd Deputy Governor of  the Bank of Ghana, told  3news.com.

She added that any entity that intends to go into the banking industry to operate as a bank is required by law to be licensed by the Bank of Ghana.

“And if this entity you are talking about intends to operate a bank in Ghana, it is required to obtain a license from us to conduct lawful banking business,” she stated.

The little gathered about the coins bank indicates that it deals predominantly in smaller denominations by ensuring that customers are responsible for their coins by saving them and earning interests.

In doing so, the bank accepts coins as deposits from customers and invests majority of these deposits in bonds and stocks on their behalf.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana