Abstract:

The unbanked populations who are also typically micro entrepreneurs and individuals have little access to financial products/services. Majority of the existing financial products are tailored to suit the middle and upper income group. Many poor households lack access to financial services of all kinds especially credit facilities while a number of financial institutions do not see the unbanked population as credit worthy. This contradiction has necessitated the pursuit of this study which seeks to evaluate and contribute to the possibilities of rendering financial services to the low income earners, referred to as the “unbanked” in this study, with specific reference to Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank a leading rural Banking Institution in Ghana. The main objectives of the study are to identify the financial needs of the unbanked population in Ghana; explore innovative approaches in giving the unbanked people access to financial products. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents while SPSS and Microsoft Excel software were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that people do not bank because they lack trust or confidence in financial institutions. Many people would readily patronize financial products if service providers would reach out to them by means of well packaged (branding)personal selling and positive word of mouth. Furthermore, banking services were not made accessible to the unbanked populace, which is a contributing factor to their difficulty in accessing financial services.

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