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THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.NET
FRIDAY JULY 31, 2020
Banks must adopt humanised approach to digital banking—Alkan CEO
COVID-19 induces drop in household income of 22million people -GSS At least 22 million Ghanaians could potentially have suffered a drop in their income since March this year when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, a new study conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service has shown. BY ABDUL SANI-RAHMAN
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Mrs. Alberta Quarcoopome sees a mix of human and tech-based customer service delivery to be crucial in an era of digital banking BY PATRICK PAINTSIL
UBA introduces Flexi Loan for government workers MORE ON PG 5
COVID-19: Farmers decry input shortage
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B
anks will have to combine both digital and brick and mortar customer support efforts in their quest to enhance and sustain customer experience in a digital banking era, banking consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Alkan Business Consult, Alberta Quarcoopome, has said. “What customers or clients need now is a digital experience which is humanised and not just machines; artificial intelligence (AI) has come to complement the efforts of human intelligence and not to replace it,” she said in a virtual training seminar organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers Ghana (CIB). Though digital banking has greatly enhanced
the ease of doing business in the financial sector and has brought convenience to customers, Mrs. Quarcoopome said it must not be the sole focus at the expense of human expertise. “Digital banking services—which are aided by RPA and AI—have improved banks’ monitoring processes, their ability to respond to fraud in real-time, and also enforced efficient operations,” she said. According to her, digital products like UBA’s Leo and similar others are ways that banks are seeking to make their digital products more humanised since the “human factor” cannot be completely taken out of their operations. Promotion of digital products has become more crucial in this COVID-19 pandemic
Farmers across the country are struggling to access improved seedlings and farm machinery necessary for the production of crops because of the disruption in the supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BY REUBEN QUAINOO
Vodafone employees raise GH¢100, 000 to support domestic abuse survivors MORE ON PG 7
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ECONOMIC INDICATORS *EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE)
USD$1 =GHC 5.6734*
*POLICY RATE
14.5%*
GHANA REFERENCE RATE
15.12%
OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT
11.4 % OF GDP
PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:
0.9% GHc 5.13*
INTERNATIONAL MARKET BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS GOLD $/TROY OUNCE CORN $/BUSHEL
43.22 1.79 1,842.40 329.50
COCOA $/METRIC TON
1,562.00
COFFEE $/POUND:
$109.65
COPPER USD/T OZ.
220.15
SILVER $/TROY OUNCE:
17.07