Draft for review. This document was prepared as a starting point and has not yet been reviewed by GRACCU’s legal counsel or the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association. Remove this notice once it has.
Who GRACCU is, who supervises it, and what protects the money you save with us.
How GRACCU is constituted
GRACCU is a co-operative credit union: a member-owned financial co-operative, not a bank and not a company with outside shareholders. It is owned by its members, and each member has one vote at the Annual General Meeting regardless of the size of their holding.
Affiliation and supervision
GRACCU is affiliated with the Ghana Co-operative Credit Unions Association (CUA) Ltd. under registration number CUA-0192, and operates under the co-operative societies framework administered by the Department of Co-operatives.
What this means for your savings
Credit unions are supervised differently from commercial banks, and the protections that apply to a bank deposit are not automatically the ones that apply here. What secures your savings is the union’s own capital, its statutory reserve, and the loan portfolio those savings fund. Ask at any office for the current reserve position; it is also in the audited accounts.
Accounts and the AGM
The union’s accounts are audited annually and presented to members at the Annual General Meeting, which also sets the dividend, the interest rate on savings and the share multiple that governs borrowing. Audited accounts are published in the downloads section of this site.
Governance
A Board of Directors elected by the members sets policy. A Supervisory Committee, elected separately, reviews the union’s controls and hears complaints referred to it. Neither is appointed by management.
Interest, fees and charges
Rates on savings and on loans, the entrance fee and any charges are set by the Annual General Meeting and published on the relevant product pages of this site and at every office. They change; the figure quoted at the time you sign is the one that applies.
Anti-money-laundering obligations
We are required to establish and verify the identity of every member, to keep those records, and to report transactions that meet the criteria set by law. This is why we ask for identity documents at joining and occasionally again afterwards.