Accra, Jan. 24, GNA - The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) plans to introduce a National Switch and Direct Debit system in 2011 to help to improve the country's payment system.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in Accra on Sunday, the Chief Executive of GhIPSS, Mr Fred France said, the rollout of the National Switch, which will create a common platform for all the banks, was a major project that would significantly enhance the financial sector.

He said when the switch became operational, bank customers could use

their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) cards at any ATM machines.

Currently only banks signed onto Visa enjoy that service in the

country but with the National Switch any ATM can accept any card.

Besides, the various mobile money services can switch transactions,

allowing mobile money transfer from a subscriber of one network to

another network with ease.

This, Mr France said, would create a lot of convenience for both the

banks and their customers.

Mr France said there were also plans to use the National Switch to

link Ghana's platform to that of Nigeria's interbank payment system,

as well as that of the Francophone West African Monetary Zone (UEMOA).

He said GhIPSS would also be able to switch messages between the Visa

and Mastercard platforms when the system was in place.

He stressed that the National Switch would greatly enhance payments not only within Ghana, but across West Africa, saying that better days were

ahead.

He urged the public to embrace the new developments in order to save

time and cost.

On the Direct Debit, the CEO of GhIPSS, said it would soon go live,

however, some educational programmes would be done for banks and other

institutions such as utility providers, insurance companies and others

who regularly receive or pay lump sums of money.

These bodies would be trained on the use and benefits of the Automated

Clearing House (ACH). The ACH is like an electronic form of standing

order and can be used for regular or recurring payments such as

mortgage, hire purchase and utility bills.

Another major programme that GhIPSS would embark on in the course of

the year is a review of standards of cheques in the country to enhance

confidence in the use of cheques.

Mr France said GhIPSS would meet with banks to look at what additional

features could be added to cheques to aid the process of clearing

cheques under the Codeline Cheque Clearing System (CCC), which allows

cheques to be cleared in two days but GhIPSS aimed to reduce the time

further to a day.

"In order to achieve this target, GhIPSS wants to strengthen the

features on cheques to ensure that they are very secured," Mr France

said, adding that banks would be encouraged to agree to set a certain

limit, so that any cheque with a value above that limit would have to

be confirmed with the issuers before payment was effected.

GhIPSS will also intensify educational campaign to create awareness

and encourage the use of e-zwich and other products.

Mr France said another initiative that would be implemented this year

was the use of e-zwich Point of Sales (POS) devices at fuel stations.

He said GhIPSS would enter into a discussion with fuel station owners

and Oil Marketing Companies to explore the possibility of exclusively

using e-zwich cards after ten o'clock in the night.

Under this initiative, the fuel stations would accept both cash and

cards during the normal working hours. But after the ten o'clock in

the night, cash from the day's transactions would be lodged and only

e-zwich and other cards would be accepted.

This is to ensure that the fuel stations can operate for twenty four

hours, but would not be exposed to robbery.

GhIPSS said its objective for the various initiatives was to make

payment faster, more accessible and more secured in order to

facilitate business transactions.