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Officials of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) have held a day’s engagement with finance directors of major companies to explain the workings and benefits of GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).

The move is part of efforts to increase public awareness about the GIP.
The GIP is a real time interbank payment platform that enables money to be transferred immediately from one bank account to another. It serves as a payment platform for companies and individuals who need to make instant payments without the need to move physically to the recipient.

Currently over 80 per cent of banks mainly the major ones have integrated their system with the GIP platform. The instant pay service is offered through different channels. Most of the banks offer GIP through their internet banking platform, mobile Apps, as well as automated teller machines (ATMs).

The GIP can also be offered through Point of Sales devices. A number of Fintech companies as well as savings and loans companies have also integrated with the GIP and offering instant pay services to their clients.

The ARB Apex bank on the other hand is in the process of integrating with GIP, which will pave way for rural and community banks to also offer GIP services. Speaking to the participants, the General Manager, Business Development at GhIPSS, Clara Arthur touched on the benefits of GIP, especially for companies who want their clients to make payments to them instantly. She explained that GIP was as good as cash but even more secured.

The finance directors at the engagement admitted that cheques continue to be the dominant mode of payment but said they encountered a number of challenges using them, including dishonored cheques, delays in confirming payments and double debiting of accounts.
Responding to their concerns, the Head of Digitized Payments at GhIPSS, Akosua Blay, said the challenges they face give reasons for them to explore other payment channels such as GIP.

She said though electronic clearing of cheques was one of GhIPSS products, GIP was being promoted as a better alternative for fast payments, stressing that “we need to migrate customers away from cheques”.

Officials of some banks, who were also invited to the programme, explained how the GIP is offered to their customers.
They demonstrated a live transfer of funds through GIP and explained how useful it is to the operations of companies. They also urged the companies to use GIP as well as encourage their customers to also use it because it is convenient and instant.

The GhIPSS plans to engage with other stakeholders to drive home the importance and benefits of GIP.

GNA

The value of bank transfers through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Credit has hit GH¢11.02 billion in the first half of 2018, data from the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) have shown.

The half-year product performance summary indicated that the value of transfers is about 43 per cent higher than the amount of transactions recorded for the same period 2017, which stood at GH¢7.7 billion.

The volume was also 29 per cent higher at about 2.9 million transactions in the first half of this year, compared to 2.2 million transactions for the same period last year.

The higher growth in the value suggests an increased confidence in the payment system as more people are using it for high value transactions. Direct Credit, which is one of the two forms of Automated Clearing House (ACH), is a simple, secure and reliable service, which enables individuals, large and small organisations to make payments by electronic transfer directly into a bank account.

It involves a debit to an account in the sender´s bank and a transfer of the amount of money directly into the beneficiary´s account in another bank.

The electronic nature of the Direct Credit makes disbursement of bulk funds quicker, safer, secure, requires less effort and saves time. It also enables intended recipients to receive their funds on time.

The Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, said consistent public education together, with the banks, accounted for the growth in patronage for ACH Direct Credit. He said ACH Direct Credit was a more efficient way of making bulk payments, such as salaries, and encouraged companies, who were still paying salaries using cheques to try ACH Direct Credit.

Direct Credit is used for payment of salaries, pensions, welfare benefits, commissions, supplier payments, dividend and refunds among others. It is also suitable for interest payments, government payments, as well as business-to-business payments.

Meanwhile, the express form of Direct Credit recorded an even higher growth in patronage for the first of half this year.
The volume of transactions shot up by over 140 per cent from 131,635 to 317,716 transactions while the value shot up by almost 170 per cent from GH¢1.4 billion to GH¢3.7 billion.

Express Direct Credit implies that the transfer is credited on the same day payment files are sent to the payer’s bank.
Mr Hesse called for a lot more effort from stakeholders to popularise ACH Direct Credit. He expressed the hope that public patronage for ACH Direct Credit will significantly outstrip cheques as it was a better alternative.

GNA