Mr John Awuah, the Chief Executive Officer of UMB, made this announcement when he unveiled the anniversary logo to launch the anniversary celebration at a colorful ceremony at the Bank's Head Office in Accra.

The celebration, which would run till the end of the year, is on the theme "45 Years of Banking Excellence".

The anniversary celebration would be used to give back to society and to acknowledge and reward loyal customers.

Mr Awuah said: "Exactly on March 15th 1972, this indigenous bank opened its doors to the public and through it all so many years behind, us we have being responsible for a lot of things including the set-up operations and assistance to a lot of the corporate entities and individual customers and people that you found in the country and beyond."

"We have been responsible for the set-up of enterprises for growing small businesses into larger businesses and some of the big businesses we’ve got today started with us and most of them are still with us after many many years.

"We at UMB are very excited, 45 years in the life of every entity and us, you know this is a business entity; so 45 years in the life of every person or entity is a milestone that is worth celebrating.

"We intent to celebrate with our customers, with our staff, with the public and as a corporate citizen also with our environment; the places where we do our business," he added.

The Chief Executive Officer said over the past 45 years, UMB had been responsible for a lot of the socioeconomic development that the nation had witnessed.

He said as part of the celebration, they were going to have a lot of fun activities and to crown it all, there would be a thanksgiving service at the end of the year.

"The Lord is our beginning and without the Lord, we wouldn't have made it thus far," he said.

Mr Awuah said 45 years was an assurance to their customers that as a custody institution, they had existed and being responsible for keeping faith with them, keeping their deposit boxes, keeping their money for 45 years without fail.

He said: "And nobody can point a finger to one single day where a customer has made a demand for fund and this bank had been unable to fulfil a promise to deliver. It is not a normal banking practice for 45 years in most countries. Even in this country, we've seen bank failures."

Mr Awuah said: "It is our time to hold the mantle from where we found it to a higher ground. And that is exactly what we are doing at UMB."

Programme outline for the UMB 45th anniversary celebration include social media games, contests and interactions; a customer appreciation gala; health screening in key market area across the country; health walk , thanksgiving service and invitational golf tournament.

The UMB was formally called Merchant Bank Ghana Limited, opened on March 15, 1972.

It is one of the leading Ghanaian indigenous banks with considerable financial expertise.

The UMB is recognised for its entrepreneurial approach, innovative use of technology, and distinctive banking solutions.

It has one UMB Centre for businesses, 31 branches and a vast network of ATMs.