First National Bank Ghana, a subsidiary of the FirstRand group of South Africa, has introduced its merchant acquiring solution into Ghana.

Commonly known as a Point of Sale (PoS) device, this will be available to all qualifying businesses such as retail outlets, fuel stations, restaurants, churches etc.

As one of the fast-growing commercial banks in the country, First National Bank has confirmed its determination to help Ghanaians transform from a cash-based economy to a card or cash-lite economy.

The First National Bank’s POS devices are enabled to accept all Visa or MasterCards.

According to Delali Dzidzienyo, Head, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, “the introduction of PoS machines is timely, especially as the country is moving from a cash-based economy to a more secure cashless one.

Our commitment to ensuring a quick penetration and usage has informed the decision to initially offer the devices to businesses free of charge. This means we are waiving the rental cost on the device, the cost of receipt rolls and the setup cost. Our aim is to help businesses in Ghana move from the traditional way of payments to electronic cards that are more secure and convenient” adds Mr Dzidzienyo.

“Our POS devices have fraud mitigation tools which guard against fraud, making it reliable and safer”, he continued.

The 2016 Bank of Ghana payment system report indicated there are about 5.4million cardholders in Ghana with 3.2million holding GH Link cards and 2.2million split between Visa and MasterCard. This clearly shows the market appetite and opportunity for card payments in Ghana.

First National Bank manages the installation and setup of the devices to ensure its clients are up and running as quickly as possible. In addition, they conduct fraud training to help protect their client’s businesses.

The POS devices are dual sim enabled and come with the bank’s unique turquoise color. It would accept also the GH Link cards in quarter one of 2018. Mr Dzidzienyo said “settlements are made within 24 hours even on weekends and holidays, which means funds are credited to the accounts of respective businesses within 24hrs.

The devices will be deployed nationwide with a pool of agents ready to provide services beyond Accra.”

First National Bank, a division of FirstRand group, (which is the largest financial institution in Africa by market capitalization) was adjudged The Most Innovative African Bank at the 2017 African FinTech Awards for the second year in a row. First National Bank is riding heavily on technology and innovation to deliver modern banking to the Ghanaian public.