Farming communities get E-zwich

There is an aggressive penetration of e-zwich in farming communities with the Western region being the next destination.

The country’s commercial banks and some savings and loans companies, together with Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), are carrying out this exercise.

The effort to give rural farmers a feeling of e-zwich began mainly with the Obooma Farm Products Limited in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern region.

But the next area of concentration is the interior part of the Western region which also happens to be one of the main food baskets of the country.

The region boasts of cash crops such as cocoa, oil palm and timber among others. It also produces cereals, root crops and fruits, making it one of the important concentrations of farming activities in the country. These features of the area make it a viable target for the deployment of the e-zwich.

Already, e-zwich activities have picked up in the coastal areas of the region, particularly in the twin capital of Sekondi-Takoradi following the payment of national service allowance on the biometric smart card.

However, the next move is to cover the large unbanked population in the farming communities.

Speaking in an interview, the General Manager of GhIPSS in charge of Project and Business Development, Archie Hesse, said he was excited that the e-zwich was so far making significant strides in the farming communities.

In the Western region, Samreboi and a number of towns and villages have been earmarked for the e-zwich project.

The country’s largest bank, Ghana Commercial Bank has been in the forefront of the rural enrolment because of its wide network.

Officials of GhIPSS are optimistic that by the time the target communities are covered in the region, the use of the biometric card will become popular.

This is as a result of the multiple use of the card. The farmers, for instance, will be able to make payment with the card and receive or remit money through the card.

It is strongly believed that once these farmers get the e-zwich, their relations in towns and cities will find it more convenient to also get the card in order to remit them.

E-zwich was introduced some two years ago. It is built on a biometric technology and can operate offline which makes it user friendly to the rural communities.

Analysts say its successful implementation will take banking to the rural community and more importantly put more money into the banking system.