Union Savings and Loans gets banking license

The Bank of Ghana has issued a provisional license to Union Savings and Loans to operate as a universal bank.

“It was (licence) issued at the end of last year. So they (Union S&L) have the approval to proceed as a universal bank,” unnamed source told the Business and Financial Times.

Union savings and loan will now have to meet the 120 million cedis minimum capital to operate a universal bank as against the 15 million cedis for a savings and loan company.

The savings and loans company has so far seen its total assets grow from a paltry GH¢15million in 2012 to GH¢184 million in 2014, representing about a 12-fold growth.

At the same time deposits saw a 10-fold jump from GH¢10 million in 2012 to almost a GH¢100million in 2014. The loan portfolio has also grown exponentially by almost 12 fold.

“With these figures we have indeed not only become a strong brand in the tier 2 banking space but also joined the top five savings and loans companies in the country,” the Managing Director, Philip Oti-Mensah, said at a mid-year review meeting of the financial institution last year.

Nana Otuo Acheampong, a banking analyst, welcomed Union Savings and Loans to the banking industry. “They are welcome to the club. They have done well to move from savings and loans to a universal bank, the big boys club,” he said.