Customers of Société Générale Ghana (SG-Ghana) have been assured that they have no reason to panic over the bank’s change of ownership.
Finance lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr. Benjamin Amoah, insists that customers’ deposits and savings remain safe irrespective of the exit of SG-Ghana and the new owners assuming control of the bank.
His reassurance comes as some customers may be apprehensive about what the exit of Société Générale and the takeover of its operations by a Moroccan bank and SSNIT could mean for their money, bank accounts and day-to-day transactions.
But Dr. Amoah says the transition should not create a situation where customers lose or are short-changed.
“There’s no alarm. There’s nothing that will happen because, you know, it’s an ownership that is changing,” he explained in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal.
According to Dr. Amoah, the change is fundamentally about ownership, and not the disappearance or cancellation of the bank’s existing operations.
He explained that as part of the acquisition process, the bank’s assets and obligations, including bank accounts, deposits and liabilities, would be assessed and valued as the transaction is completed.
This process, he said, is important because it ensures that the financial position of the institution is properly accounted for as ownership changes hands.
For the ordinary customer, this means that the person who has money in an SG-Ghana account should not assume that the change in ownership means their savings have suddenly become inaccessible or unsafe.
Dr. Amoah said the bank’s operations are expected to be taken up by the new owner, allowing customers to continue their banking activities under the new ownership structure.
Customers, therefore, may continue using their accounts while the transition takes place, rather than rushing to withdraw their savings simply because the ownership of the bank is changing.
He was, however, quick to add that customers remain free to move to another bank if they independently decide to do so. But for those worried specifically about losing their deposits because Société Générale is leaving Ghana, Dr. Amoah assures that a change in ownership does not, by itself, mean a loss of customers’ money.
“Everything will be the same and customers are safe to do banking with a new owner, unless they decide that for one or two reasons, they want to move to another bank. But apart from that, everything is safe,” he assured.
The key issue now is for the transition to be properly managed so that customers experience as little disruption as possible while the new ownership takes over the bank’s operations.
