Having completed the CRB certification, Nana is fast becoming one
of Ghana’s more notable Retail Banking Managers. We caught up
with him to see how he found the CRB certification.
Q. Why is it important for you to
become a Certified Retail Banker?
A. I think that the certification is critical.
It gives you much more credibility. It’s
important for your development, and
having this opportunity that RBA provided
has been great. CRB is really catching on
here in Ghana. It’s still quite new for us,
but it is growing more and more each day.
Q. What is the main characteristic of
retail banking?
A. I think it’s retail. As opposed to
wholesale
or
corporate
banking,
you’re dealing with people and smaller
businesses. You’re looking at a number
of products like credit card accounts.
You are dealing with larger numbers of
clients. There are a lot of people and a
lot of things happening. It can be quite
challenging but rewarding. You learn so
much. You have multiple channels like
the physical branch, mobile devices and
ATMs.
Q. What bought you to the Retail
Banking Academy?
A. In October last year, management
recognised that they wanted to certify
some of our staff. I was privileged to be
one of those selected. There were five of
us and it was a new thing for me. I hadn’t
heard about CRB before. I was very
excited and it felt amazing to be specially
chosen for something like this.
Q. How did you stay motivated?
A. The motivation was the excitement of
having this opportunity to better myself
and gain a certification. After the first
July July
2017
2017
year, we had Michael Lafferty come to
present us with awards. It was such a
special and memorable occasion. There
was much made about it! It was really fun
Q. How did you find the balance
between studies and your family
responsibilities?
A. It’s quite a tough thing to find time in
your personal life to study, but for me I
found the value in taking two or three
days off to study and to really look at
the content. The course is really content
specific; you need to study to get through
the exams. You can’t say, “Oh, I know
retail banking. I’ll breeze through it.” No,
no, no. You have to know the stuff! A lot of
reading and the regular hour I took each
morning and the days off really helped.
Q. What were the challenges?
A. All your other responsibilities can get
in the way, so it’s important to make time
for studying.
The course content was quite challenging.
I remember RB II had moments of
difficulty. It had more detailed content
and talked through much heavier stuff.
Q. Were you excited by the content?
A. Oh yeah! I was – especially when I
was doing RB I. It was really great. RB
I was so useful, especially the module
about how to approach actual customers,
differentiating between different people
and what kind of customers there are. At
the time I was doing a lot of relationship
management and I found it very
educational.
Q. Can you tell us a bit more about
yourself, your love for banking, your
story?
A. I didn’t really grow up with aspirations
to be a banker, but I was trying to find
my feet and then I realised something
I wanted to do was to have a lot of
interaction with people. When I left
school, and the job opportunity came
up at Stanbic, I really wanted to do it.
I wanted to interact and learn. It was
challenging and a great opportunity.
Q. Do you feel having the CRB
designation can help you climb the
ladder?
A. Yes, it’s really catching on and it makes
me stand out from the rest. The value of
the Designation and Certification is great.
As I climb up the ladder, the Certification
will definitely help and progress my
career.
Q. Would you recommend the course?
A. I would definitely recommend it.
The fact that you’re Certified makes it
worthwhile. If you’re doing another job
and you have a professional certification,
it gives you many more opportunities. The
Certification is recognised internationally,
so any retail banker should give it a go.
I’ve learned a lot of things I may not have
learned in the bank or from the day-to-
day job. The community is another reason
to get involved. Once you’ve become
certified, you are part of a recognised
community, and it’s great for your career.
“The community is another reason
to get involved. Once you’ve
become certified, you are part of
a recognised community. It’s great
for your career.“
Nana Nketia Perbi
Branch Manager
Stanbic, Ghana