Ghana gets first online bank card in West Africa

Ghana-based Transaction Management Services (TMS) is using technology from S2 Systems to provide the first domestic online debit card POS (point of sale) services in West Africa.

The move will revolutionize the region's banking services, which are only used by a small minority of the population who rely heavily on cash transactions.

Dr Kwabena Appenteng, General Manager of TMS, commented: "At present, the only cards available to the majority of the population are off-line, and, a bit like a phonecard, require the customer to pay out money before they can enjoy a service. The demand for more cost-effective card payment options is growing as using cash is less secure and increasingly less convenient."

TMS, which is using S2 Systems' open, flexible transaction solution OpeN/2(R), will provide the central processing services, EFT switch, POS management and interfaces necessary to support online bank cards. The first product to utilise the new system will be the domestic debit card "E-Card," launched by three of Ghana's 14 banks - Ecobank, CAL Merchant Bank and The Trust Bank.

"E-Card will be the first of many products to rely on the transaction processing and authorization capabilities of OpeN/2(R)," added Dr Appenteng. "This is an extremely high-profile project as many of the banks in the region are keen to develop new products that will increase the use of banking services, and encourage people to make fewer cash-based transactions."

Recent E-Card trials have proved successful and the card will be generally available from this June.

George Ogden, Market Development Director for S2 Systems EMEA, commented: "We are delighted to be part of such an exciting project, which is one of the first steps towards enhancing West Africa's banking infrastructure. OpeN/2(R) has achieved the highest number of online transactions per second in the world of EFT systems, and can be easily scaled to meet growing customer demand in Ghana and neighboring countries."

The TMS system, which is the most technically-advanced transaction processing environment in West Africa, will initially use a closed private radio network to connect point of sale devices with OpeN/2(R). This will soon be extended to support fixed line connections within the next year.

"S2 Systems has made a considerable effort to understand the technology needs of banks in the region, which proves their commitment to the project and to helping enhance the banking infrastructure in Ghana and beyond," added Dr Appenteng.

About S2 Systems

S2 Systems, Inc. is a leading global provider of mission-critical enterprise payment and transaction management solutions for the banking, financial services, retail, telecommunications, utilities and travel & hospitality industries. Today, S2 Systems technology is the best of its class in price and performance, delivering improved reliability and availability to businesses worldwide, with the industry's best ROI. And for nearly 20 years, some of the world's largest organizations have relied on S2 products to drive their high-volume transaction processing systems. S2 Systems is headquartered in Dallas, and has offices in Atlanta, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Johannesburg, Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Sydney. For more information about S2 Systems, visit its web site at www.s2systems.com.