There were smiles all around as locals at Putanagororoi village in the Gazelle District, East New Britain, recently opened their personal accounts with Bank South Pacific.
It was a rare occurrence as officers from commercial banks hardly visit the rural communities to conduct awareness on their products.
This recent event was made possible through an arrangement made by the Office of the Gazelle MP, Jelta Wong, ward member Kevin Polos and BSP to bring banking to those living in rural communities.
Locals paid K5 each to open a new account. Students and children were also able to create accounts under the Kids and Sumatin schemes for K2 each.
For some of them, this was their first time to open bank accounts and be issued bank cards instantly.
Wong said he wants rural communities to be aligned to the modern banking industry and benefit from the variety of BSP products available in the country.
He expressed his gratitude to the BSP Rabaul branch team, led by Steven Bengke, and encouraged them to reach out more to the remote areas of his district.