E-zwich patronage soars

The migration to a cashless society is steadily taking shape, with transactions on the country’s premier biometric smartcard, e-zwich, rising by 238 per cent at the end of 2015 over the previous year.

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Ltd (GhIPSS), promoters of the biometric card, recorded about GH¢1 billion worth of transactions on the e-zwich platform at the end of last year; up from the GH¢272.67 million recorded in 2014. This corresponded with an increase in the total number of transactions from 62,167 to more than 2.25 million, up by 260 per cent.

The Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, said the increase in number was a result of increased confidence in the system and the number of public-sector institutions that had resorted to using it as a form of secure payment.

Government initiatives

Government initiatives which have recently resorted to the use of e-zwich biometric smartcards include the National Service Scheme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), School Feeding Programme and soon-to-be introduced Controller and Accountant General’s payments of public-sector salaries through the biometric cards.

The card has proven to be effective at eliminating fraud in payments because it ensures that only the right persons deserving payments receive the amounts indicated. Being a biometric one, the card combines its biometric features with its versatility of being used in ATMs, POSes, for money transfers or direct payments, among others.

Outlook for 2016
The next phase of e-zwich includes a rollout to cover CAGD payments and Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
Mr Hesse said GhIPSS was working with international remittance companies to ensure that e-zwich cardholders could directly receive money transfers onto their wallets.

The German development bank, KFW, has extended a concessionary credit facility to banks to support the procurement of Point of Sale (POS) devices to increase e-zwich adoption and patronage.

The CEO of GhIPSS said banks which had requested the facility had been evaluated and 2,000 POSes ordered already. The devices are expected to arrive in the country in the first quarter of the year.

“This is the beginning of increasing the number of e-zwich POSes in the system. The banks are responsible for providing the POSes to merchants and providing them with the banking account on which the devices are operated,” Mr Hesse explained.

Other gains
The e-zwich is not the only area that GhIPSS has recorded sterling performances. Its gh-link, which is the loop for local ATM cards, saw a 66 per cent increase in the value of transactions from GH¢183.3 million in 2014 to GH¢305.15 million last year.

For 2016, GhIPSS plans to vigorously promote the issuing of local cards by banks as well as encourage e-bills payment and attainment EMV standards (enhanced security features) for the gh-link cards.