Ghana leading in Africa Payment Space – Bawumia

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana’s strides in the area of technology aided payment systems makes the country the undisputed leader in the payment systems space on the African continent.

In his keynote address at the launch of the “Gh Dual Card” at the forecourt of the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said “in the payment systems space, it is clear that Ghana is the undisputed leader in Africa”.

“We are also the first country to have interoperability between mobile money accounts and bank accounts. We have extended it to e-zwich accounts. This is triple interoperability. It is quite remarkable, what we have done” Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said.

Eliminating ghost names

With the launch of the Gh Dual Card which is a two in one payment card, that has both the e-zwich & gh-ink application and can be used either as e-zwich, gh-link or both as desired, the Vice President indicated that the biometric feature of the new card will greatly assist government in eliminating the challenge of ghost name on its payroll.

“The biometric feature of the e-zwich makes it ideal for public sector payments as it is able to eliminate ghost workers. To eliminate the phenomenon of ghost workers ones and for all, we are going to require that all government workers will also be paid through the filter of the e-zwich card” the Vice President noted.

CEO of GhIPSS

In an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Mr. Archie Hesse, noted that the new Gh Dual card has been designed to give cardholders access to both funds on their e-zwich cards and in their bank accounts at the same time. The Gh Dual card he said will work based on a customer's preference. Customers who want to withdraw money or spend off the e-zwich side of the card will need an e-zwich only terminal or a hybrid terminal. It will also require fingerprint authentication.

The GhIPSS

Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana. It was incorporated in May 2007 with a mandate to implement and manage interoperable payment system infrastructures for banks and non-bank financial institutions in Ghana.

In line with its mandate, GhIPSS has implemented and currently manages the following: National Switch & Biometric Smart Card Payment System- e-zwich, Cheque Codeline Clearing (CCC) System, Ghana Automated Clearing House (GACH) systems-Direct Credit & Direct Debit and the National Switching and Processing System- gh-link.

GhIPSS is committed to maintaining very high standards of excellence, reliability, integrity, and timeliness for all its infrastructure. These standards have enabled GhIPSS to attain ISO27001 certification. GhIPSS´ payment infrastructure is currently used by all banks in Ghana including the ARB Apex Bank and its affiliates, Savings and Loans Companies and third Party Payment Providers.