Veneka to support financial inclusion
Veneka, a payments technology company, has said it will work with financial institutions in the country to meet the needs of customers, irrespective of their sophistication, in order to deepen financial inclusion.
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The Managing Director of Veneka, Mr Evans Musodza, said with agency banking set to take root in Ghana, his company was ready to be part of the payments ecosystem of Ghana and develop tailor-made solutions to ensure that more of the population would get captured into the banking system.
Speaking just ahead of a business roundtable Veneka organised on electronic payments in Accra, Mr Musodza said, “we are prepared to engage with financial institutions to offer them the capabilities to solve market relevant problems to enhance their competitiveness.”
Veneka provides the technology behind banking services such as electronic cards, mobile and e-banking payment solutions, as well as the up-to-scratch software and expertise to deliver payment technologies.
With 1.6 billion euros annual turnover, 13,000 experts and over 500 banking institutions, Tieto provides a full life-cycle information technology services for companies in communication and financial services as well as electronic payments solutions providers, such as payments switches.
Veneka industry roundtable
The 2015 roundtable, which was on the theme: “Collaboration towards a dynamic and growing payments industry,” brought together leading bankers and the financial services industry to discuss trends, best practice and share insights into payments solutions in the country.
The discussions bordered on enablement, sustainability, trends and innovations and how systems could become interactive with one another, creating a seamless flow of transactions.
Mr Musodza was upbeat about the new Bank of Ghana rules on agency banking, which he said would enable banks to collaborate with other service providers, such as telecom companies to make financial services reach as many of the unbanked as possible, thus deepening financial inclusion.
Almost 60 per cent of the country’s adult population is financially excluded, with about half of those who are banked remaining with informal financial institutions.
He said Veneka and its partner, Tieto, had the capacity to integrate the switches and servers of financial institutions in the country or host them on a common platform, which would come with several advantages such as enabling seamless payment be transactions between, say mobile money and banks across networks, irrespective of geographical boundary or jurisdiction.
This means customers can make bank transfers to mobile money wallets, or vice versa and across borders and operator networks.
“The company is looking forward to being part of the Ghanaian payments ecosystem and to developing tailor-made solutions that will deal with Ghana’s key imperatives of ensuring that the almost 60 per cent of its population that is unbanked have access to banking services,” the managing director of Veneka said.
Veneka in Ghana
The round table was organised by the payments technology company, Veneka, in collaboration with partner Tieto, to host leading bankers to share the latest payments solutions, best practice and industry trends.
Veneka and its partner are the name behind the rolling out of several switches and electronic cards and payments platforms in the country and other African countries.
Veneka’s association with Ghana dates back about seven years, during which it has worked with several Ghanaians and local companies to deploy state-of-the-art technology solutions to banks, financial institutions and other organisations.