Residents of Tema and its neighbouring areas will soon experience increased accessibility to GhanaPay mobile money services, thanks to a collaborative effort between the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) and various banks.

On August 30th to the 1st of September, 2023, a dedicated team from GhIPSS and participating banks will host an event at Tema Community 1 to enroll members of the public onto the GhanaPay Mobile Money platform.

The event, dubbed ‘GhanaPay Mobile Money Experience Fair,’ is part of the joint initiatives by GhIPSS and partner banks aimed at providing the public with convenient access to and enrollment on this innovative service. While resembling traditional mobile money services, GhanaPay Mobile Money distinguishes itself by being offered by Universal banks, rural banks, and savings and loans companies.

It extends basic mobile money functionalities while incorporating additional banking services tailored to enhance users’ financial flexibility.

GhanaPay Mobile Money is accessible through both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. In an effort to simplify public engagement with the service, GhIPSS and the banks have decided to organize this event in Tema, ensuring that the registration process is brought closer to the local residents.

Samuel Darko, the Head of the GhanaPay Mobile Money Unit at GhIPSS, has underscored the advantages of the GhanaPay platform in anticipation of the Tema Activation.

Notably, GhanaPay stands out by offering fee-free transactions to both mobile networks and bank accounts, with the exception of the obligatory Electronic Transaction levy (e-levy).

Mr. Darko has urged Tema residents to take full advantage of the opportunity to register for GhanaPay Mobile Money at the Meridian enclave within Tema Community 1.

He emphasized that the registration procedure is uncomplicated and swift, only requiring a Ghana card, and is offered to users at no cost.
GhIPSS, along with its banking partners, has been conducting registration drives across the country to bring the public onto the GhanaPay Mobile Money platform. The current initiative focuses specifically on Tema and its surrounding areas.

GhanaPay Mobile Money empowers users to effortlessly transfer funds across diverse mobile money networks and bank accounts. Moreover, customers can conduct cash-in and cash-out transactions at their convenience.

Concurrently, GhIPSS is extending an invitation to individuals and enterprises interested in becoming GhanaPay Mobile Money Agents.
Prospective agents have the option to either attend the event or liaise with their respective banks to initiate the registration process. Mr. Darko further highlighted that appealing packages await those interested in becoming GhanaPay Mobile Money agents.

Source: GhIPSS

In a digital age, where speed and immediacy in payments are important to almost everyone, businesses just like individuals have need for speed in the transfer and receipt of funds. This need coupled with the desire to provide institutions with an “almost immediate” funds transfer experience, necessitated the introduction of an additional service on Ghana’s Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Credit (DC) platform.

Introduced in September 2020, the ACH Direct Credit-Near Real Time (NRT) service offers individuals and businesses the opportunity to make single or bulk funds transfers almost in real time. This means that funds can be transferred electronically to several people and businesses, with accounts in different banks within fifteen (15) minutes.

GhanaPay Mobile Money service was introduced in June 2022 by the Ghana Association of Banks in collaboration with GhIPSS. This collaboration means that customers can register for GhanaPay Mobile Money and decide which financial institution they wish to own a wallet with. Essentially, GhanaPay Mobile Money gives customers the opportunity to have a direct relationship with a bank as mobile money users. Anyone with access to a mobile phone in Ghana can register for a GhanaPay mobile money wallet, with or without a bank account.

Central bank officials and switch operators from six (6) African countries are in Ghana, to learn from the national payment infrastructure provider, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System ltd (GhIPSS).

They came from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, as well as switches such as Rwanda Rswitch, Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited, and Central Africa GIMAC.

Their visit stems from a partnership between AfricaNenda and GhIPSS to organize a peer learning visit for selected African countries. The objective of the learning Visit is to enhance the understanding and knowledge of central banks and switch operators in the deployment and management of Inclusive Instant Payment Solutions.
The participants are expected to gain valuable insights into GhIPSS's scheme rules, business model and use cases.

AfricaNenda is an African-led team of experts committed to unlocking the potential of digital financial services for the financially excluded across the continent, by
accelerating the scale-up of instant and inclusive payment systems. The Group settled on GhIPSS for the learning visits, because of the strides GhIPSS has made in developing of Instant Payment solution known as the GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).

GIP has deepened financial inclusion in Ghana and it is considered one of the most advanced on the Africa continent, based on AfricaNenda's State of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (SIIPS) in Africa report 2022. As of December 2022, GhIPSS had processed a monthly average of 17.9 million Instant Payment transactions with 55 participating financial institutions.

During this learning visit, central bank representatives will participate in technical learning sessions, networking sessions and field visits.
Chief Executive officer of AfricaNenda Dr. Robert Ochola in a statement said he hoped the peer-learning event will support the growth of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems in Africa, which the organisation considers critical to achieving universal financial inclusion by 2030. He stated that “we believe that Ghana's experience can offer critical lessons and good practices for regulators and policymakers in other countries, which is aligned with the organization’s agenda to accelerate knowledge sharing and enhance the capacity of African institutions”.

On his part, the Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse said “GhIPSS is excited about this partnership as it affords us the opportunity to share the experiences and lessons learnt on our journey to achieving inclusive payments”.

Mr. Hesse was optimistic the knowledge sharing experience will provide the needed guidance to the various participating countries as they embark on the
development and deployment of their instant payment solutions.

The learning visit which ends on Friday will also help the participating countries to establish relevant networks and contacts to foster further sharing of expertise.

Source: GhIPSS