GhIPSS to launch online payment gateway

Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) will on Wednesday launch an internet payment gateway to make it possible for holders of domestic Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards to make payment online.

The launch of the ‘gh-link e-Commerce’ is to promote e-commerce and result in the creation of jobs as various services are needed in the e-commerce value chain.

The Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, urged indigenous Information Technology (IT) players to position themselves in readiness to seize the opportunities that the gh-link e-Commerce will offer.

He said web developers and other IT services would be needed by businesses, which will sell online, and urged people with knowledge in the areas to play lead roles to ensure a successful e-commerce era.

He also urged businesses to take advantage of what technology could offer and to get their website ready to receive payments online.

With the internet payment gateway going live, airlines, restaurants, hotels and various other shops can offer their services and products and receive payments online.

A number of young entrepreneurs, who currently sell their products online but have to receive physical payments will now be able to receive payment online, he said.

The planned launch of the gh-link e-Commerce is in line with the mandate of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), to migrate Ghana to a cash-lite or cashless economy, where various electronic payment options including mobile phones will be dominantly used instead of the heavy reliance on cash.

Mr Archie said GhIPSS also planned to launch an instant payment service that will enable people to instantly transfer funds from one bank account to another, even if the accounts belonged to different banks, without visiting a banking hall.

The payment option is expected to facilitate transactions, as funds transferred through this medium will be credited to the account of the recipient instantly.

Both the gh-link e-Commerce and GhIPSS Instant Pay are services that banks pushed for when GhIPSS held an interaction session with bankers to determine the kind of electronic payment products that will enhance their operations.