Ecobank, which has operations in Rwanda, has set up a service to collect Visa fees on behalf of the US Embassies in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, following an agreement with US authorities.

The service, which commenced on March 1, 2011, enables Visa applicants wishing to travel to the US from the four aforementioned West African countries, to walk into any of Ecobank branch in those countries and initiate a US Visa application process.

Ecobank has a total of 103 branches across the four countries.

The Group has also partnered with Reliance Financial Services, a non-bank financial institution, to facilitate a wider reach for the Visa service in the Gambia, by co-opting 16 Reliance branches into the scheme, the bank said in a statement.

Ecobank Group Head, Financial Institutions and International Organisations, Sebastian ASHONG-KATAI, said:  "This is a major achievement for the Ecobank Group and an endorsement of our brand and capabilities by major international organizations we have worked with on this service. More significantly, it is a realization of one of our major objectives to use technology as a backbone to support the provision of services across our various markets”.

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