E-ZWICH TO BOOST COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES (GRAPHIC, MAY 13. PAGE 34)

THE business community in Tema have been called upon to embrace the e-zwich banking and payments system to reduce cash handling in order to boost commercial activities.
According to the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), the system had key business features which made it easy, secured and convenient to use and was accessible nationwide.
Addressing a large number of business people in Tema, mainly members of the Tema Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), the Business Development Manager of the Ghana GhIPSS, Mrs Mary Dei Sarpong, explained that the e-zwich offered many services, such as the Point of Sale (P.O.S) device which had at least 800 transactions and operated with a smart card or the merchant card.
Mrs Sarpong said despite the visa cards and automated teller machines, as much as 80 per cent of the about 10 million bankable population was outside the banking system, creating a cash society and hampering government planning.
She expressed the view that the new system set up by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) would improve payment systems in Ghana, provide affordable and convenient access to banking for all residents in the country.
Mrs Sarpong stated that the system had other projects like the automated clearing house and code line clearing and therefore called on members of the GNCCI to make enquiries at the banks to acquaint themselves with all the features of the product.
She cited the payment and collection of utility bills as one area that would be improved to the benefit of utility service operators.
Mrs Sarpong, therefore, appealed to the business community to patronise the system to make the implementation of the national electronic payments system successful.
The Tema Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mrs Victoria Maami Ekua Hajar, advised the business community to do away with ignorance by studying the system thoroughly to take full advantage of the system.
She commended the GhIPSS for acting promptly to their call to educate members on the operations of e-zwich.

— Story: Rose Hayford Darko, Tema