GCB Bank PLC has launched a product it has christened Medium and Small Enterprise (MSE) Group Loans to support micro businesses in the region to thrive. 

The "MSE Group Loans", which comes with three per cent monthly interest, is exclusively meant for a group of business operators who would come together as a team or a group to access the product.

The maximum amount accessible is GH¢200,000.

The package, which is the first of a kind in the universal banking space, allows the applicants to pay at their own pace monthly, weekly or daily, aided by the GCB e-banking system, to make it convenient for beneficiaries.

Addressing traders during the product launch at the new Kejetia Market in Kumasi last Monday, the Executive Head of the Retail Banking Department of GCB, Sina Kamagate, said GCB Bank was established to help traders in the business space.

He said 83 per cent of businesses in the country operated within the mico economic space, stressing that it was as a result of the situation that GCB Bank offered loans to traders for the development of the sector.

"We know that in the market, there are groupings, and so they can put themselves into groups of up to 10 and come to us for a group loan. What is good about the group loan is that you get to enjoy several undertakings from the members, with each one looking at one another's back," Mr Kamagate explained.

Repayment plan

Mr Kamagate added that the MSE Group Loans would be complemented by the opening of bank accounts for the traders through which they would repay their loans.

The repayment plan, he said, would determine the credit worthiness of the group of traders.

The GCB Bank’s Executive Head of Retail Banking further disclosed that the bank had short-term loans of up to GH¢200,000 for individual traders, with an interest rate of 3.5 per cent, among additional loan modules for traders.

The launch was attended by some market queen mothers and representatives of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).

Good news

The Queen Mother of Africa Prints, Kumasi, Nana Yaa Boadu, on behalf of the traders, lauded GCB Bank for continuously bringing out financial products that responded to the call of traders.

"As compared to other financial institutions, the interest rate of GCB's MSE Group Loans is better than the others. If you sign up for a loan with a high interest rate, it is difficult to pay, so this module will help us," she said.

"Additionally, unlike other financial institutions, we have so much trust in the GCB brand, which is one of our own, and we are happy they have come to our doorstep with this package," she stressed.

Nana Boadu called on traders to come together and form groups to enable them to naccess the financial package.