More people continue to use e-zwich leading to an impressive growth in patronage by over 170 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

The volume of e-zwich transaction between January and March this year was a little over 2 million compared to about 750 transactions during the same period in 2016, according to the first quarter performance report by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems ltd. (GhIPSS).

The report also indicates that the value of transactions was up at over 655 million Ghana cedis in the first quarter of the year compared to 428 million Ghana cedis for the same period last year.

The significant growth in the patronage of e-zwich followed a rise in its usage by both private and public sector organisations to pay salaries of staff who by their nature of their jobs are found in different parts of the country.

Government’s decision to use e-zwich for its social intervention programmes was also to reduce the incidence of multiple payments and weed out ghost names. It also prevented situations where part of the money intended for beneficiaries were taken by unscrupulous officials. The use of biometric smart card has led to significant savings for government over the years.

Following the growth in the number of people using e-zwich, GhIPSS together with some banks have agreed to make Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) finger print readable in order to accept e-zwich cards. A number of such ATMs have gone live while others are expected to be activated shortly.

GhIPSS has also introduced a new concept that allows individuals to set up agencies to provide e-zwich services including transfers, withdrawals and deposit of funds on to the cards.

The Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse explained that the potential of e-zwich remains enormous. He urged companies with employees scattered throughout the country to turn to e-zwich for payment as it was cost effective, efficient and more secured.

He said Ghana has a robust payment infrastructure and that every effort was being made to transform how payments are made in the country.