Swift Trust Microfinance comes under attack

Tens of frustrated customers of Swift Trust Microfinance on Thursday besieged the office of the Kumasi branch in demand of their contributions made to the Company over the past years.

According to an aggrieved customer who spoke on condition of anonymity, allegedly the Company was folding up and therefore has not been able to grant them the opportunity to withdraw from their savings for quite some time now.

However upon honoring a request for them to come for their contributions on Thursday, they were once more informed to return later for the money since the money in the coffers of the firm was not enough to settle all the customers. This however did not go down well with the customers who held up the officials of the firm for hours to demand immediate refund of their savings. Some of the customers who could not any longer put up with the frustrations threatened to report the matter to the police.

The charged atmosphere at the scene of the office, located behind COCOBOD house, nearly turned chaotic but was however brought under control by some slight showers which forced the customers to disperse in anger.

An official of Swift Trust Microfinance explained, they experienced some few challenges which led to a halt of the ‘susu’ collection briefly. However, some of their customers who perceive this break as a collapse of the firm have been demanding for a refund of their savings for which reason some monies went sent from Accra to settle them off.

 Unfortunately however, the money sent from Accra was not enough to cater for all the customers who had gathered at the premises of the office, at the time of picking this report, to withdraw their savings.

The official, whose name has been withheld, indicates the firm is currently serving close to 200 customers within Kumasi, for which reason this situation could dent the reputation of the firm.

Swift Trust Microfinance, formally known as Set Goals Microfinance with branches in some parts of the country, has been operating a ‘susu’ collection scheme with majority of its clientele being petty traders and small business operators.

The current situation adds up to numerous instances in the Ashanti Region alone in which huge sums monies belonging to customers of savings and loans firms have been engulfed in such controversies.