This comes after missing the initial November 2017 deadline.

The CEO of GhIPSS, Mr. Archie Hesse who disclosed this new date to Citi Business News said the necessary processes for all the service providers, that is, banks and telecom operators have since been completed hence the optimism this time around.

According to him, the delay has been due to the inability of the telecom companies to hook unto the operating platform needed for the interoperability which was not initially envisaged.

“The web services side of the integration by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) was completed in no time but when it came to their integration unto the ISO service, they struggled a bit. Though there was one MNO who was getting close after a long time. So when we realized that was the situation which we didn’t envisage before, we developed a web services ISO converter; so the MNOs do no longer require that development they can now ride on that development in our environment,” he explained.

The GhIPSS boss could however not tell when exactly the process will be going live as that largely depended on the supervisors of the whole project, presumably the office of the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

“We have completed it, now the MNOs are connecting to it and testing begins that is why we are confident that we should be able to go live February ending; we should be able to launch it anytime in February. But the actual date will depend on our bosses,” he added.

Mobile money interoperability

The mobile money interoperability platform will allow consumers to transfer money across all mobile networks with ease.

Currently, conducting mobile money transfers from one network to another is impeded due to the absence of a common system to switch through easily.

This has also partly accounted for the relatively high cost in such a transaction compared to transferring money to another on the same network.

The project also forms part of the government’s plan to drive financial inclusion and reduce the number of unbanked population in Ghana.

Gov’t cancels Sibton Switch’s contract

The mobile money interoperability contract was first awarded to Sibton Switch which had quoted 4.6 billion cedis to carry out the mandate.

The criticism by industry watchers among others, led to the cancellation of the contract by government and handed over to GhIPSS.

It is estimated that GhIPSS is carrying out the same mandate at a cost of 4 million cedis.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post GhIPSS shifts mobile money interoperability to February 2018 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said the two payment systems hold the key to financial inclusion in the country, explaining that because the two payment systems were closer to cash out and safer, they could easily become the catalyst to reduce the huge unbanked population, by including more people in the financial sector.

Mr Hesse who was speaking in an interview explained that the reason why Ghana still had a large unbanked population was because many people preferred cash in hand which could be used and received instantly as payment.

“The Government has made financial inclusion a major goal for the year and has tasked stakeholders, including financial institutions, GhIPSS and telcos to work together to ensure that more people get into the banking system. Ghana has a high unbanked population of more than 60 percent, which is one of the reasons being cited for high-interest rates, since most of the money that banks could access and on-lend are rather in people’s homes, shops and offices.”

He said any payment system which had those qualities of cash but more secured, would, therefore, be the best tools to use to draw more people into the banking sector.

Mr Hesse said that the Instant Pay, which allowed people to transfer cash from one account to the other, even in a different bank instantly, is one of the best options available to increase the banked population.

He explained that the Instant Pay system could also be engineered for various forms of payments including online and mobile payments. “Instant Pay is like cash because the moment you send the money, the receiver gets it and can use it immediately”, he stressed.

Instant pay can be done on a mobile phone or a computer.

Mr Hesse also mentioned mobile money as the other payment system which neared cash, as the other option that could drive financial inclusion.

He explained that while it was very easy to access mobile money, every bit of money kept on a mobile money wallet rested with the banks.

“This implies that the more people use mobile money, the more money is kept with the banks leading to a deepened financial inclusion.”

GhIPSS is currently in talks with telcos to bring about interoperability among the mobile money providers, so that customers can send money across networks.

Mr Hesse explained that once the interoperability was completed, a lot more mobile money transactions would be expected to occur.

The GhIPSS Boss emphasised that electronic payment was the way to go and urged the public to patronise them to enjoy the security and convenience that come with them as well as increase money available to banks.

“Too many of us are holding on to cash and losing them to floods, fires, armed robbers and thieves in general or we even lose our purse and wallets” he stated.

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Source: GNA

The post Patronise instant pay, mobile money services – GhIPSS boss appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.