Archie Hesse
THE GHANA Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) has announced it will release a lot of payment products onto the market.
Archie Hesse, CEO of GhIPSS, who disclosed this to the media recently in Accra, said his outfit had planned the launch of a universal QR code payment, which would ensure customers used their phones to scan merchants QR codes and made instant payments.
Another real time product for the year, he mentioned, is Proxy Pay. He said the service would link individual customers’ phone number to a bank account such that payments could be made instantly by just typing in the phone number instead of the 13-digit account number.
Proxy Pay is to ensure easy payments as phone numbers are easy to recall and type. However, for corporate organisations, their bank accounts will be linked to their names so that one can just type in a company’s name and effect payments electronically.
Mr. Hesse continued that GhIPSS also intended to launch Request to Pay, which would enable customers to make payments when they obtain bills from their service providers. Such bills would be received through SMS text message with options for the customer to approve payment with funds from their bank account. Such real time payments are expected to create more convenience for customers and ensure security of their payment transactions.
Commenting on how the electronic payments system fared in 2019, he said there was continuous growth in the volume of GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).
A recent report released by GhIPSS indicated that the volume of GIP-based transactions shot up in excess of 1,200 per cent from 144,000 in 2018 to 1.9 million last year.
The growth, in instant pay volumes, has been consistent since it was launched, showing customers preference for real time payments.
Until recently, payments in Ghana, except cash, took at least three days for the recipient to get value. But that has since changed with the introduction of mobile money, express payment services and more importantly the GIP.
The GIP allows customers to transfer or receive money instantly through the banking system, using any of the electronic payment platforms such as internet banking or mobile banking.
Mr. Hesse described the GIP as “good as cash but even more secure,” suggesting that customers’ preference would keep growing.
A business desk report