Managing Director of GCB Bank, Farihan Alhassan, has defended the bank’s continued support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), insisting that lending goes beyond profit to transforming lives.Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Tuesday, he pushed back against concerns that tighter regulations and rising scrutiny on non-performing loans could limit credit to SMEs.“So we’re not just giving credit to customers. We’re changing people’s lives. So people need us to change their lives, and they have a genuine story to tell.”He stressed that GCB’s identity as a local bank compels it to support businesses others may avoid.“We are not just any bank. We are Ghana’s indigenous bank. We are Ghana’s number one bank. We have to support those customers.”According to him, risk alone cannot justify denying businesses access to credit.“We can’t run away from supporting customers because we think that they are risky. It’s our job as a Bank to see how we can work with these customers to address some of the risks that we see in their businesses.”He said the bank sees its clients differently.“And so whilst others see them as customers, we see them as partners. We are partners on a journey to growing these businesses, and we have to take that risk on them.”Mr Alhassan noted that the bank works to strengthen businesses rather than exclude them.“So would work to present them as credible entities who can assess the facilities that we have. So we’re not going to run away from them because we don’t want to create bad loans. If the business is bad, we would work to make it good so they can assess the credit.”He questioned who would support struggling businesses if banks stepped back.“But you just can’t run away from them because you say it’s a bad business. Who then would support those kinds of business?”The GCB boss argued that success should not be measured only by profit.“And don’t forget that our measure as a bank is not in how much money we make, but in how many lives we touch and how many businesses we grow.”He urged a shift in mindset within the bank.“As I’ve been telling the team, we need to begin to think about what level of impact we are making, and clients’ business growth.”He illustrated this with tangible outcomes.“So today, if a business made a profit of GH¢200 million, the question was asking us, how did our support enable that business to meet the ¢200 million?”“If a business employs 20 people, our concern should be, how then do we support this business to employ 40 people?”He concluded that GCB’s role goes beyond lending.“So our job as GCB is not just to give our loans, it’s to see how we grow our customers to become bigger and for them to realise their dreams in the broader financial context.”Responding to concerns about shareholder returns, he maintained that growth ultimately benefits the bank.“When the businesses grow, you grow with them.”He added that the bank’s strategy aligns with the broader economy.“The thing is, from my end, it’s just the fact that we believe that GCB is not just any other bank. We have to be seen to play in the real sector of Ghana’s economy, and so we’re just following the economic trajectory of this country.”