Customers Besiege First Allied Savings And Loans

The Adum Pampaso branch of the First Allied Savings and Loans limited was yesterday besieged by displeased customers seeking to withdraw their savings amidst the chanting of songs and threats.

The bank had, for some time now, been rumoured as the next in line of banks in the country that have collapsed, after the Unibank, Capital and Royal banks among others, went down the same lane less than two months ago.

Customers of the bank have been trooping to its premises to withdraw their deposits since the Bank of Ghana (BoG) announced the creation of the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited to take over Sovereign Bank, Royal Bank, Beige Bank, Construction Bank and Unibank as distressed banks.

Last year, Capital Bank and UT Bank also were liquidated for running into liquidity challenges. Customers have expressed their displeasure over the attitudes of the staff and management of the bank, alleging that the bank has over three months frustrated them in their attempts to withdraw their monies.

They complained that anytime they visited the bank, they were asked to come for the money on a specific date, with the excuse that management had ordered them not to release money to any customer because they were having some challenges.

A customer, Madam Agnes Opoku, who is battling a heavy keloid around her neck and chin, told The Chronicle in tears that she was overdue for a second surgical operation at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), and all attempts to withdraw her deposit had proved futile.

Madam Agnes Opoku, who had over GH¢4,200 with the bank, said officials of the bank assured her the last time she visited that she was going to receive her money yesterday. Rather surprisingly, all the customers who thronged its premises yesterday to withdraw their deposits alleged that they had been given the assurance by officials of the bank that they would receive their money at the end of August.

A stranded customer, Ellen, told The Chronicle that she visited the Adum branch of the bank where she had her fixed deposit account three times, just to be told she should go and come on another date.

She said the last time she came to the office was in July and was told to come at the end of the month, but when she came on Monday September 3, 2018, nobody attended to her, let alone know when their monies would be paid to them.

They appealed to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to intervene to ensure that their monies are released to them.

A manager (name withheld) confirmed that the bank had been facing some financial challenges over the past three months, and that management had ordered that operations stop until further notice.

The manager, however, emphasised that staff of the company were also suffering the same fate as the stranded customers, but gave the assurance that things might normalise this month when management releases or makes money available for payments for full operations to resume.

Another official of the bank, speaking under the condition of anonymity, explained that the panic withdrawals were instigated by rival banks and ex-employees, but hoped the situation could be stabilised and contained once the bank had embarked on an intensive recovery of loans.

Meanwhile, security personnel would not allow our reporters to engage the management in an interview to state the official position of the bank.