Guaranty Trust Bank Sierra Leone Limited (GTB-SL) has launched their “Kip Fo D Bambai Promotion and their GT World SL Application at the Wilberforce Street Head Office in Freetown.In his statement, the Managing Director of GTB, Ade Adebiyi, described the occasion as an important milestone in the development of products in the bank.

He maintained that it is no coincidence that the bank is at the process of testing the national switch with the Central Bank (Bank of Sierra Leone).

He explained that over the years, the Bank of Sierra Leone has been telling financial stakeholders in the banking sector about Financial Inclusion, noting that they are at the tail end of getting to the realization of Financial Inclusion.

“In the sense that wherever you are in the country without going into the bank hall, you are able to do your transactions or whatever platform on your computer, on your phone, on laptop or even by going to an agent,” he said.

That as a contribution towards ensuring that they align with the Financial Inclusion objective of the regulator, they are launching the GT World to market their customers.

He assured that it is a simple product that can be used without difficulties, referencing that about 2 years ago they launched their USSD project which is similar to the GT World.

“Today, it is very significant that as the price of data in the industry crashes, we now need product whereby you can do similar things using the internet. And, GT World is a product that is similar to the USSD, but it uses the internet and can do virtual everything. And with the National Switch coming on, you will also be able to transfer money to other banks instantly,” he explained.

He reiterated that with this app, the bank policy of the Central Bank is coming to play as there will be no need to be carrying plenty cash on hand.

He applauded the Bank of Sierra Leone for pushing the agenda for Financial Inclusion.

Giving an update on the ‘Kip Fo D Bambai’ promo, Head of SME Banking, Kelwina Martyn explained that the promotion will last for a three-month period starting from August to October of this year.

She furthered that during the three months period, they are encouraging their customers to save with the bank and maintain their balances in their account.

“We have three different qualifying categories which are the Silver, Gold and Platinum. For the Silver, a fresh deposit of account balance of Three Thousand Leones (Le3000) which is Three Million Leones (Le3,000,000) in the Old Leones, the sum of Five Thousand Leones (Le5000) which is Five Million Leones (Le5,000,000) in the Old Leones for the Gold and Ten Thousand Leones (Le10,000) which is Ten Million Leones (Le10,000,000) in the Old Leones for the Platinum,” she said.

She added that during the period of the promotion, customers who are qualified for the various categories will stand a chance to win attractive prizes based on the category qualified for.

She disclosed that customers stand the chance to win air conditioners, microwaves, blender, electric iron, rice cooker for the silver category; smartphone, gas cooker or refrigerator for the gold category and musical set, deep freezer and smartphone for the platinum category.

She called on their customers as well as those who are not banking with the bank to take advantage of the opportunity by joining and bank and meet the threshold for qualification.

In her presentation, Cooperate Affairs Officer of GTB, Victoria Wright, explained that the GT World App gives access for customers to carry out their transactions using their smartphone no matter their location.

She furthered that through the GT World SL App one will be able to open an account using the app, do transfer, buy airtime, check balance, a finder to locate the nearest branch or ATM, payment of bills, customer care among other facilities.

She said they have three (3) categories of targeted customers for the app, which is the young generation, the middle aged and the seniors.