Universal Merchant Bank CEO picks top award

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Universal Merchant Bank, John Awuah, has been adjudged the Finance Personality of the Year at the just-ended 4th Ghana Finance Innovation Awards (GFIA).

Mr. Awuah received the Finance Personality of the Year Award based on his enviable track record and shrewd leadership at UMB.

The event took place at Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on 19th of October, 2018.

The award criteria were based on his huge contribution and many years of experience in areas such as financial control, regulatory reporting, credit control, performance management, taxation, market risk monitoring, financial accounting, operational risk and corporate strategy.

The bank was also presented with the Best Customer Experience Award.

In the past year, the CEO of UMB has championed a myriad of forward-thinking physical and digital innovations that have significantly improved the way the bank operates and enhanced its profitability.

Notable among these achievements is the impressive financial performance of the bank in 2017; profit-before-tax was in excess of 150 per cent over the performance recorded in the previous year, 2016.

Also, in the digital mobile banking space, Mr. Awuah spearheaded the successful introduction of the bank’s mobile banking application in 2018, UMB SpeedApp, which has since become one of the top finance applications in the industry following its official media launch in February 2018.

The convenient services and features on the UMB SpeedApp are available to both customers and non-customers, and as such a lot of the users have resorted to making transactions on the mobile platform as against visiting the bank’s various branches nationwide to do business.

The introduction of the mobile application was in line with the bank’s plan to digitize the banking experience of its existing customers, as well as potential customers.

In his interaction with the media at the event, the CEO of UMB, expressed his appreciation for the honour bestowed on him and dedicated the award to the loyal customers of the bank and staff at UMB for their commitment to work.

The 4th Ghana Finance Innovation Awards (GFIA) was used to recognize leading, finance experts, teams and top finance organizations, whose outstanding leadership and practices elevated the standards of accountability within the profession, showcased brilliancy in managing organizations’ wealth, as well as promoting economic growth.