Accra, June 14, GNA - Government has secured a 7.5 million Euro funding to support the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) to undertake the e-zwich rural branchless banking project, Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor announced on Tuesday.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana Automated Clearing House (GACH), an electronic funds transfer system, Dr Duffuor said the money would allow GhIPSS implement a countrywide biometric system to ensure the quality delivery of financial services, especially to the unbanked and underbanked population.

"This technology will permit offline transaction and fingerprint recognition making it highly suitable for rural areas and for the uneducated people in our country," he said.

The GACH is another product of GhIPSS and part of efforts to modernize the country's payment system along the lines of international trends.

The facility is primarily an electronic funds transfer system and the preferred form of funds collection for organizations in developed and emerging economies.

Much of the activities surrounding the funds transfer take place among the participating banks and GhIPSS, which acts as the clearing house.

With this system, an account holder can instruct a bank to make regular or recurring payments to a client or a firm on his or her behalf at determined dates.

Dr Duffuor said the GACH would not only increase the payment alternatives in the economy but also provide greater choice for consumers and bank customers as well as enhance the speed and efficiency of the transfer and collection of funds among banks.

He urged the banks to continually strive to be ahead of the competition through product design, innovation and branding as well as expanding to capture new markets through efficient payment and settlement system.

Dr Kofi Wampah, Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, said the establishment of the GACH implied that businesses and the general public could now initiate automated payments through their banks without having to rely on a paper payment instrument.

"GACH will also increase the speed and safety of payment transactions as well as provide greater choice to players," he said. However, Dr Wampah urged the banks to make concerted efforts to increase the degree of awareness of electronic fund transfer services to overcome the slow pace of adoption of the systems and to also expand the reach of the services to the rural communities.

Mr Fred France, the Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, said GhIPSS was in the process of implementing an open switch that would allow the processing of biometric, Europay, mastercard and other international and locally branded card transactions on behalf of banks in the country.

He said the new switch would also facilitate integration with other emerging payment systems such as internet payment gateways, mobile banking and telephone payment systems.

Mr France said there were also plans to connect Ghana's National Switch to those of Nigeria and the West African French speaking countries.