3 Reasons Why Ecobank Ghana Sucks

“convenient, reliable, accessible”

Ecobank is a bank with a strong presence in Ghana, and many other African countries. I save with them because a friend whose opinion I value and who is a past Ecobank employee recommended them on the basis of their accessibility. He cautioned that the banking experience might not be great, but declared them the best bank in Ghana. Also, I had been passively following the bank’s activities for a while and gotten the sense that financially, the bank was doing well. I’d heard talk of a 2.5 billion dollar equity offer, which according to the bank’s website, is the first and largest public offer to be made in the region. All signs were positive. So based on my friend’s recommendation and on what information I found on their website, I took my chances. After nearly five months of doing business with them, and having thoroughly regretted my decision to save with them, to describe my experience as one that has been far from positive would be putting it mildly. I witnessed another client encountering problems with the bank so it would appear that I’m not the sole disgruntled customer. A bank which advertises itself to be “convenient, reliable, and accessible” should not consistently fail in delivering on this promise.
I’ve decided to share my experiences because I’d like to demonstrate how Ecobank is failing us in hopes that it will get them to do something about it. I could move to another bank, but I’d like to try to get Ecobank to fix itself. But if nothing changes, I know what to do.

1. Not Convenient

The other unhappy client I mentioned was someone who has an account in Liberia, but was in Ghana on business and had written himself a check that he needed to cash. After the many endorsements to be made had been made, he was told to return the following day. The man, being more patient than I politely asked if the money would be ready for pick up the next day. The banker’s response? “God willing”. The client repeated incredulously “God willing?” Even I, just looking on could understand his frustration. What had God to do with this? The bank was either going to work on getting his money to him or it was not. “But I thought this was a trans-national bank?” he stressed. Somehow the banker started to speak like the client was the one being unreasonable, when in fact, he had every right to expect a more efficient service.

My own experience that day wasn’t any better. First, why did I have to go to the bank to pick up my check books and ATM cards, instead of picking them up in the mail? Why couldn’t Ecobank offer that service for clients like me who have some scruples about taking an hour from the time that our employees pay us to work to conduct our own business? After standing in line for most of the hour that I was there, I still did not receive my ATM cards. The cards were not ready although a month had passed since I'd ordered them. I was able to cash some money (something I couldn’t do at an ATM because I did not have an ATM card), and get a bank statement but that took some waiting in line as well. It seemed that the tellers were spending about five minutes with each person who just needed to either deposit or withdraw money. Why are they so slow? Having spent an hour already, I decided to get back to work instead of waiting another hour to finish what business I still had to conduct.

2. Not Reliable

To be reliable is to be dependable. On two consecutive days, I went to the bank during working hours only to be told that their system was down and so I could not get my money. Thankfully on those two days, I did not need the money urgently. I was taking it to pay for gym membership so not getting the money on those two days only cost me time. But I still wondered, what if my mother was sick, and I needed money to rush her to the hospital? Ecobank would have failed me on two consecutive days and it would have taken me 3 days to access my own money. A reliable bank is one that can be relied on to function as expected, all day, every working day of the year. From my experience, I’ll say Bank of America is reliable. I can’t say the same for Ecobank.

Note that this happened was at a time when I had still not gotten an ATM card from them even though i’d been saving with them for over a month and had ordered the card. So I couldn’t have gotten money from an ATM. I had money in the bank, but no way to withdraw it. What a banking experience, and from what is touted to be the best bank in Ghana too!

3. Not Accessible

If Ecobank interprets accessibility only in terms of placing ATM machines and bank branches in locations where people can find them, then they are doing well. But common sense tells me that the point of taking the ATM machines and banks closer to the people is so that the customers can access the money when they need it. In this, they are not doing well.

Just this morning, I went back to the bank because I wanted to withdraw more money than is allowed at an ATM cash point. (The daily limit for withdrawals is 400 cedis). I had my ATM card with me as well as other forms of identification, but not my check book. I’ve been spoiled by the US where with only my ATM card and identification, I could get my money at no fee so I was optimistic that not having my check book would not be problematic. The teller informed me that the only way to get my money was to get a bank check, and one leaf of it would cost me 2 cedis. I initially thought she was joking. God, I wished she was joking but she wasn’t and I could not allow myself to be ripped off this way so I did not pay the two cedis and consequently, I did not get my money.

So what do we do about it? Just rant and leave it at that only to have to deal with it again next time, or worse, throw our hands up in the air in despair? No, of course WE CAN do something and I have the following suggestions:

1. Let Ecobank Know

If you know any Ecobank employees, particularly workers who have some authority such as the CEO, please copy and paste the link to this post to them in an email with the subject “3 Reasons Why Ecobank Ghana Sucks” and see if s/he pays attention. Reading this along with other people's comments might nudge them to do better?

2. Let Ecobank’s Competitors Know

Send it to any friend who works in another bank. Maybe that bank could work on pleasing customers where Ecobank has failed and by so doing, capture some of Ecobank’s share of the market.

3. Conduct Your Own Research

I’m hopeful that at the very least, you will do a better job at researching banks before you pick one and save yourself the unnecessary wahala I have had to deal with.

See what other Ghana Bloggers have to say about Ecobank :

1. To Whom It May Concern

2. Ecobank Visa Gold Cedi Credit Card. First in Ghana

3. Ecobank Group Launches New Brand Identity