GTBank Ghana has issued a statement to clarify concerns raised on social media over debits on some accounts believed to be engaged in crypto currency.

Below is the full statement from the bank on the issue:

In reference to the concerns raised to @gtbankghana on some account debits, we wish to state that the few affected customers had transacted and traded in crypto currencies.

The referenced debits are solely the FX differential between the unapproved FX rates applied on the crypto trading platforms and standard FX rates applicable to all other valid transactions advised by the Bank. GTBank Ghana has taken steps to engage individual customers who were involved in these transactions. The Bank remains a business operating under the laws in the financial industry and will not unduly cause its customers dissatisfaction in any regard.

In reference to the public notices issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bank of Ghana (BoG), crypto currencies are not an approved legal tender in Ghana and the general public has been warned to desist from transacting in them as doing so is at their own risk. The online platforms on which they are traded have not been issued any license and for that matter, are not regulated. Hence, all merchants and platforms offering such crypto currencies are to be reported to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ghana for necessary action.

We wish to state that all other non-crypto-based transactions are not impacted by the FX differential debit. However, if any customer has experienced any debit transactions other than the aforesaid (Binance, etc.) please call us now on 0800 124 000 for immediate support.

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Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited