‘Financial sector needs more indigenous IT companies’

Mr Archie Hesse, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), has called on indigenous players in the Information Technology (IT) industry to develop appropriate solutions needs for financial services sector.

He said since the direction of the sector is electronic, a lot of IT solutions are in demand in a broad range of services.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Hesse said there are too few indigenous players in the industry, compelling a lot of financial service companies to look outside for service providers.

“Relying on external service providers could be challenging as the slightest challenge will require flying down the personnel, which has time and cost implications,” Mr Archie said.

He said the move towards a ‘cash-lite’ economy is real and options such as payments using ATM cards, online payments and mobile payments are gradually making inroads.

This development, he explained, would require a lot of IT service providers, an opportunity for indigenous players could seize.

The GhIPSS CEO explained that because the financial sector largely deals with people’s money, the standards for services provided cannot be compromised.

He suggested that indigenous companies partner their foreign counterparts to build their skills and reputation as well as acquire the requisite certification, to become major players in the sector.

He said some Ghanaian IT companies are doing very well and urged others to device ways of getting mentored.

Mr Hesse said there are wide range of IT services and asked the players to be abreast of developments within the financial services sector.

He said the introduction of Point of Sales (POS) terminals which accept local cards as well as e-zwich cards, IT companies should be able to develop additional services on these POSes to make them multi-functional.

He commended Fossil Pay which has ventured and encouraged indigenous players to think through other value added services as well as support service solutions.

Mr Hesse said very soon, it would be possible to use the local ATMs to make payment online and urged IT companies to support businesses to build good websites that can accept payments online.

“We are in the era of electronic based products and services and our indigenous IT players must cash in and they need to follow developments in the sector to be able to do that,” the GhIPSS CEO stressed.

Online payment with local ATM cards is expected to be a reality soon, and it is anticipated that lots of services in IT would be required.

But Mr Hesse warned that unless the indigenous players position themselves in readiness to grab the opportunities, only a few would benefit from it.