The Ghana Automated Clearing House (GACH) is an electronic payment network used by individuals, businesses, financial institutions and government organizations. Electronic ACH payments provide better cash management capabilities and lower costs than traditional paper payments. The GACH network allows funds to be electronically debited or credited to a company's or individual's deposit account.
Automated direct credit and direct debit payments are limited in the Ghanaian banking system partly due to the tradition of cheque usage and the low level of automation. A manual paper credit transfer system was introduced in 2004 as a forerunner to an automated system. This system operated alongside the semi-automated cheque clearing system until September, 2009 when both systems were closed following the introduction of the Cheque Codeline Clearing system. The Ghana Automated Clearing House (GACH) replaces the manual paper credit clearing system. It will enable the electronic transfer of funds between financial institutions on their own account and on account of their customers.
The introduction of GACH direct credits and direct debits is aimed at increasing the variety of payment options and speeding up the payment process to provide choice and convenience for the consumer. It is also aimed at modernizing and bringing payment systems in Ghana in line with payment trends worldwide, which indicate a general shift towards ‘credit push’ rather than ‘debit pull’ instruments for speed and risk reduction reasons.
