PaySwitch officially launched
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said the government will soon stop accepting cash payments and instead encourage people to make electronic payments.
The Vice-President was speaking at the launch of Ghana’s first and only private third-party processing electronic payment company, PaySwitch Company Limited, in Accra on Wednesday.
The launch was to officially introduce the company’s brand and services to financial, insurance and e-commerce companies.
Extolling the virtues of electronic payments, Dr Bawumia said electronic payments and transactions would also allow the government and financial institutions to track and collect all payments of money, making it more difficult for “people to steal the money”.
“If we are able to integrate our electronic payment system, which will not be too long in coming once we are assured of the stability of the system, we can use technology as one of the biggest enemies of corruption,” he stated.
“A properly harnessed effort in this area has the capacity to transform society significantly towards the achievement of a cashless economy and the role of electronic payment is essential for propelling our economic fortunes,” he added.
First in Africa
He indicated that since 2017, the government had embarked on an aggressive pursuit towards financial inclusion and formalisation of the economy through digitisation, such as the paperless ports, with a commitment to roll out the national identification system this month.
“We have started issuing smart drivers’ licences, e-business registration and certification and a digital property address system and commencing the process to digitise all land records this year.
“We have started issuing smart drivers’ licences, e-business registration and certification and a digital property address system and commencing the process to digitise all land records this year.
Dr Bawumia said together with the Bank of Ghana, the GhIPSS and the telecommunication companies, the government last week launched the mobile money interoperability system, an initiative geared towards making the process of financial inclusion more effective and sustainable.
