The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) says it is now able to disburse loans instantly to beneficiaries in stead of five days or more depending on the day of the month. This follows the use of the e-zwich platform to disburse loans.
The Trust Fund began using this system last year and following its success decided to make it compulsory for all students from this academic year.
Officials say the use of the platform has also come with several other benefits. The decision to use the e- zwich was to ensure operational efficiency and quick disbursement of funds to students in various tertiary schools dotted around the country. According to officials of the SLTF it took a more cumbersome process to disburse loans in the past and when the disbursement coincided with the end of the month, the payment
According to him there are instances where students would claim not to have received their loans, but all such information or claims can be verified from the system just with the click of a button. He added that the audit trial has enabled the Trust Fund to be very responsive to students' requests and complaints because the accurate information is readily accessible and is immediately passed on to the complainant.
Mr. Yeboah said continuous students who have challenges with their bank accounts are even opting for the e-zwich, a clear testimony of the students' preference for the electronic system.
He said the Trust Fund is determined to provide the students with the best of service and would continue to work in that direction. He however said one of the major challenges is the unintentional use of the emergency finger by the students payment delayed because the bank had to pay workers’ salary first. However with the e-zwich system, the moment…”
With the e-zwich system, the moment the payment is made, it hits the cards of the students immediately and they can in turn access their money by uploading the electronic funds.
In an interview; the loans Disbursement manager at SLTE Gabriel Yeboah said they are able to disburse as much money as they want within a day so long as they have enough electronic funds to cover the transaction. He cited a recent when close to 5000 students were paid in two batches of disbursement all within a working day, adding that they could have paid more people once the documentations were ready. He explained that the speed of disbursement enables them to serve the students better and that makes both the Trust Fund and Students happy.
Mr. Yeboah said another major benefit of using the c- zwich is the total elimination of long delays associated with banks returning unused funds. He explained that there are instances when monies sent to the banks for disbursement do not get to the students for various reasons including wrong bank accounts numbers.
He said when such incidents occur; it takes a long time for the banks to return the money to the Trust Fund. But with the use of the e-zwich, when the electronic fund is sent and the information about the recipient is wrong, the money does not go through at all. So the issue of unused monies getting locked up somewhere does not arise any longer.
The Loans Disbursement Manager also said the e-zwich system provided an audit trail that enables the Trust Fund to know the exact monies sent, those who received and even those who used some of the funds at what time and where. This detailed information, he mentioned is useful in clearing all kinds of disputes that may arise.
“…unintentional use of the emergency finger by students in trying to access the money on the cards. The emergency finger is a security feature on the card. It is one of the five pairs of fingers that an e-zwich card holder chooses as an emergency finger at the time of registering for the card any time this finger is used, it limits access to the money on the card. Since any of the fingers could be used, some students forget which finger they registered as the emergency finger and mistakenly use it while trying to access money from the card.
However because of the audit trail, the system is able to detect why the problem occurred and it is rectified. While the students are being encouraged to know their emergency finger, the Fund is also urging the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) operators of e-zwich to intensify its monitoring to ensure that the various outlets to access e-zwich services are up and running all the time.
Currently students of all accredited tertiary institutions qualify to apply for the student loan, and the Trust Fund says it is ready and able to attend to the students. The use of the c-zwich to disburse the student loans began last academic year but it was optional. From this academic year however it became compulsory and this would continue in subsequent years until the use of bank accounts is completely faded out.
Meanwhile students in the Senior High Schools are also being issued with e-zwich cards to give them the option of paying their school fees and receiving remittances using the biometric card. This means that the students at the second cycle would be familiar with the e-zwich by the time they get to the tertiary level and for the rest of their adult lives. Tl1is is a strategy that GhIPSS has employed to target the younger generation so they would grow up with the habit of using electronic payment cards.
Source: B&FT
