The Vice President of the Association of Community Banks, Dr. Frank Boateng, has called on Ghanaians to embrace the transition from rural banks to community banks, saying the new name reflects the institutions’ evolution and the wider range of communities they now serve.
Addressing the 50th anniversary celebration of rural banking and the official conversion to community banking at Bank Square in Accra on Thursday, July 16, he said the change was intended to better represent the sector’s identity.
“Community tells the whole truth about who we are… Serving townships, market centers and growing urban communities alongside our traditional rural heartlands,” he said.
Dr. Boateng said the previous name no longer captured the reality of the sector, as many of the banks now operate beyond rural areas.
“Rural told only half of our story. It spoke of geography, not of purpose,” he said, adding that the transition “is not a cosmetic change” but one that aligns with the banks’ mission.
He said the conversion also sends a message to customers who may have felt excluded from the formal financial system.
“Today’s transition tells each one of us, those customers that we have left behind… they were never on the periphery of Ghana’s financial system. They were always at the heart, and now their banks bear their name,” he said.
Dr. Boateng explained that the transition became legally effective on March 31, 2026, under the Bank of Ghana’s revised Microfinance Sector Framework after years of reforms following the banking sector clean-up.
He urged the country’s 147 community banks to embrace their new identity and continue supporting financial inclusion across Ghana.
“To our 147 community banks across the country, I say wear this name with pride. To the ordinary Ghanaian in every community we serve, I say this bank has always been yours, and now it bears your name,” he said.
