Some 6,806 beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme are being issued with e-zwich cards in order to receive their funds electronically.

The enrollment, which began last week in some nine districts in five regions, follows a contract signed between the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, which supervises the LEAP Programme and the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana.

Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Archie Hesse, commended the decision by LEAP, and said GhIPSS together with the banks would ensure a smooth service.

He expressed the hope that the introduction of electronic payment to the LEAP beneficiaries would go a long way to encourage other members of their families to embrace e-payment systems.

Mr. Hesse also lauded the government for the adoption of e-zwich in a number of its initiatives and institutions.

He said the move by the government would eventually popularise e-payments, especially e-zwich.

A number of banks including UT Bank, UMB, First Allied, GN Bank and other financial institutions such as Kintampo, Figya and Zabzugu Rural banks, as well as Salaga Credit Union are taking part in the enrollment exercise in the nine districts.

The use of e-zwich to pay LEAP beneficiaries would ensure transparency while the funds would only be received by the designated persons.

The e-payment would also allow for proper reconciliation and effective audit trail, which would enable LEAP managers to produce their reports on time.

The LEAP Programme Manager, Dzigbordi Agbekpornu, expressed excitement about the e-payment system and expressed the hope that it would lead to improved service to the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the electronic payment of the beneficiaries has also begun. The remaining LEAP districts are expected to be enrolled by the end of the first quarter this year.

Currently, student loans, National Service Allowance, the School Feeding Programme, and other such initiatives, use e-zwich as the mode of payment, leading to a significant reduction in malfeasance while enhancing efficiency in those operations.