Embrace digital payment using QR code – Ursula Urges Ghanaians

The Minister for Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu Ekuful has urged Ghanaians to embrace digital payments for a secure, convenient and low-cost financial service as the country moves to a cash-lite society.

The Vice President of Ghana on Thursday, November 19, 2020 formally out doored the National QR code payment system where he patronized a local delicacy ‘waakye’ at Auntie Muni in the Greater Accra Region.

Ghana has become the first country in Africa and third in the world to roll out a Universal Quick Response (QR) Code payment system.

Ghana’s Universal QR Code is a key plank in government’s efforts to ensure financial inclusion, and follows the successful implementation of Mobile Money Interoperability.

It allows customers to make Instant payments for goods and services from different funding sources (mobile wallets, cards, bank accounts) by scanning a quick response code on a smartphone, or dialing the USSD Code of the payment service provider and following the prompts to make payment.

Speaking to the media, Mrs. Ekuful said her Ministry through the National Cyber Security Centre is working to ensure a free cyber fraud digital payments platforms in the country.

She therefore urged Ghanaians to embrace the use of cyber fraud free digital payments platforms to increase people’s control over their lives and transact more safely and cheaply across a much broader geography and payment platforms.

Campaign

The Chief Executive of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Archie Hesse, says his outfit, has started a campaign to encourage the use of digital payment systems across the country.

The electronic payment platforms in Ghana range from Automated Clearing House (ACH) through GhIPSS Instant Pay to paying with cards and Mobile Money.

Speaking in an interview with Citi FM, Mr. Hesse said GhIPSS is seeking to address this concern by embarking on a massive awareness creation campaign across the country.

“We have started a three months campaign, between now to the end of February to encourage merchants to go in for their QR codes. We are also working with the financial institutions and mobile money entities to give their customers QR codes, to ensure that they are ready to receive QR payments. I am sure that very soon, we’ll see it work.”

“We have well over 3000 merchants, and yesterday one of the banks contacted us, with a roll-out plan, in which they have deployed teams in all the regions to ensure that all their customers are furnished with a QR code. I am very confident that come December, we will start seeing it. And we are definitely going to create a lot of awareness around it. We will then review it to see if there is a need to continue it,” he added.

He also indicated that “the GCB bank, Ecobank, Fidelity bank, CalBank, UBA, Zenith bank, Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG), adb bank, Bank of Africa, G-Money, among others are ready to operate the system.”