GTBank Partners with MRC

In a show of collaboration between a bank and its customer and in line with its well-known innovative posture in the banking industry, Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Limited (GTBank), has concluded arrangement with the employees of Medical Research Council, (UK), The Gambia to set up and manage a Staff Retirement Adjustment Fund, a press release from GTB stated. 

The scheme is the initiative of MRC employees and it is a fund created jointly by MRC staff and the bank and in which members would voluntarily and individually contribute money into their account every month, in foreign currency, added the release. “Withdrawal would not be allowed from the fund until a staff is leaving the services of MRC by which time he/she ceases to be a member of the MRC staff or upon death, at which a nominated next of kin would collect the amount due to the applicable member” the release further stated.

According to the release, accumulated funds are to be managed by a financial institution and returns (interest earned) distributed to contributing members proportionally, based on individual contribution to the fund.

Being a novel idea, the release went on, the MRC sought the professional advice of GTBank to further develop the idea, and the eventual collaboration, though a painstaking process was the birth of what is today known as MRC Retirement Adjustment Funds which took off in July 2007 with GTBank as Fund Manager and Investment Advisers.

“It is structured as a very flexible savings / retirement plan as individual members can know their account position at any point in time upon enquiry from the bank, and the bank is under obligation to render quarterly performance of the fund to the designated members of the union or general assembly from time to time,” disclosed the release.

“The scheme took off with about 379 members of the MRC staff who have individually agreed to a ‘check off’ from their monthly salaries for the purposes of contribution to the fund.”

At the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) guiding the fund, which was held at the Head Office of the GTBank on 8 July 2007, the highly elated trio of the Head of Finance of MRC, (Abdoulie Barry, the current chairman of the workers’ union (Kairaba Kanyi) and chairman of the committee that recommended the novel idea (Mr Serign Ceesay), that represented the MRC staff at the ceremony, were all impressed with the way GTBank worked with the staff in assisting it  actualize the dream. 

Considering the amount of work that went into the preparation, documentation and setting up of this idea, which is considered novel in The Gambia, the presentation room of GTBank on Kairaba Avenue was charged with ecstasy as the respective signatories put their pens to paper on the afternoon of July 8  2007 to sign the MOU.

In the words of the Managing Director of GTBank, ‘’we are delighted to note this landmark development in The Gambian financial market and very impressed with the staff of MRC for coming up with this idea. Being novel and in a view to ensure that the members of staff located in all locations of MRC (Fajara, Basse, Farrafenni, Keneba, Njau) bought into the idea, coordinating and concluding the paper work was pretty difficult, today, it is to our delight that we are witnessing the birth of what would add further safety net to the future of MRC workers, and special commendation should go to the MRC executives and the chairman of the committee that initiated this novel idea”.

Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Ltd. which started operations on the 5th March 2002, presently, has the fastest rate of branch expansion in The Gambia and is rated by industry watchers as the third largest bank in The Gambia based on published 2006 balance sheet size of banks in the country. In addition to its magnificent Head Office situated at Kairaba Avenue, there are four  branches located in Banjul, Serrekunda, Brikama and Senegambia.  Two additional branches are under construction in Kanifing and Serrekunda markets respectively.

The bank offers a wide range of innovative and customer-friendly products and services, including the GTSave and Smart Kid Save accounts, launched recently to boost savings habits of the Gambian public.

GTBank continues to partner with reputable companies and institutions to make the future safer for their employees and it has GTMax, a salary based credit facility for salary earners.