Digitising Payments for Services - BoG to Soon Introduce PSs

As part of its efforts to achieve 75 per cent financial inclusion by the year 2023, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) will soon launch a Payment System Strategy (PSS) to compliment government's efforts of digitising payment of services in the public sector, which is set to begin next month.

Dr Settor Amediku, Head of Payment Systems, BoG, disclosed this at the second edition of Ghana's Most Respected Chief Executive Officer's (CEOs) Breakfast Series held in Accra yesterday.

Organised by the Business and Financial Times in collaboration with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), the event brought together about 150 influential CEOs and entrepreneurs to exchange insights in the current financial landscape and particularly the role of electronic payment partners in improving financial inclusion.

It was under the theme: 'National Agenda for E-Payment and Financial Inclusion: The Role of the Stakeholders'.

According to Dr Amediku, the PSS would define the key roles of relevant actors in ensuring that the 75 per cent target of financial inclusion by the BoG was achieved to enable the government to get the needed revenue for the development of the country.

He stated that financial inclusion was for public good since it would benefit the government in terms of revenue mobilisation and also minimise corruption in the public service.

"Most of our toll receipt cannot be accounted for because they are manually collected but if we digitise payment, government will get the required revenue to develop the country," Dr Amediku emphasised.

He indicated that the objective of the central bank was to involve a lot of people in the financial system to achieve price stability and ensure that price decisions through monetary policies were effective.

According to Dr Amediku, electronic payment could be used to reach more people in the rural areas denied traditionally over the years by banks because mobilising rural savings was very expensive.

Mr Archie Hesse, CEO of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhiPSS), said there was the need for the establishment of a Payment Council in the country to discuss and agree on transactions terms.

He urged Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of lodging their monies at the bank to enable the country to achieve full financial inclusion "so that everyone would have access to financial benefits with accurate monetary policies by the central government".

The CEO and founder of PopOut Ghana, Mr Maximum Ametorgoh called on the government to educate the public on the need to digitise payment to get more involved.

Read Full Story