Executive Director of Association of Rural Banks (ARB), Mrs. Comfort Owusu, has urged Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) to leverage the GhanaPay to remain relevant in the digital and evolutionary banking space.
GhanaPay is the country’s biggest common E-business platform which is fast disrupting traditional banking as the country goes digital.
In Ghana, the accelerated growth of E-business in the form of Internet banking, mobile banking, ATM, and other electronic payment channels have been impressive in the last couple of years.
“E-business is the future of banking, and the RCBs cannot afford to be laggards (late in accepting E –business or digital banking) as customers prefer accessible and convenient banking services.”
By this development, CEOs of rural and community banks have been urged to leverage this innovative product to deepen financial inclusion and more importantly attract the youth who are technology savvy.
Speaking at the 9th Biennial General Meeting (BGM) of the Eastern Regional Chapter of the Association of Rural Bank on the theme: ‘E-Business in RCBs; Emphasis on GhanaPay Felicitation’, Mrs. Comfort Owusu noted that the benefits of the GhanaPay cannot be trivialised.
She explained to the RCBs that the GhanaPay has the potential to grow their deposits, a key financial performance indicator, and urged management of the RCBs to ensure they work diligently to promote the use of GhanaPay.
“This is so because funds deposited in GhanaPay wallet (balance on float) of our customers form part of our total deposit. I would therefore appeal to the board and management to ensure that our staff work diligently to promote and on-board all existing and prospective customers on the platform,” she stressed.
Mrs. Owusu further advised that RCBs should ensure that prospective customers select their institution as a preferred bank at the point of on-boarding, and in doing so, their bank might experience significant growth in deposit.
Another major benefit of the GhanaPay, according to Mrs. Owusu, is its ability to provide access to the RCBs anywhere across the country where the bank of the customer is not physically accessible.
This, according to her, would help RCBs business customers who travel outside the respective banks’ catchment areas to avoid the risk of carrying bulk cash.
“It will create convenience and accessibility to our customers as they can access certain mobile money and banking services at the comfort of their homes, offices and on-the-go,” Mrs. Owusu highlighted.
She, however, cautioned that in embracing E-business, especially the GhanaPay, RCBs should be mindful of cyber risk and put in effective measures to minimise it.
“We should also be mindful of the incidence of Cyber risk. In this regard, we should put in place effective and robust cyber security measures to minimise operational and reputational risks,” she said.
About GhanaPay
The GhanaPay is an initiative of Ghana Bankers Association (i.e. Universal Banks, the RCBs and the Savings and Loans companies) in collaboration with Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) to solidify Ghana National Financial Inclusion Agenda.
The GhanaPay is a mobile money service but has additional banking services; and this, therefore, makes it unique from already existing mobile money services.
With the GhanaPay, customers can send and receive money from other networks and bank accounts, deposit and withdraw funds at agent locations/banks and many more.
Another unique feature of the GhanaPay which is noteworthy is that transfer of funds does not attract fees, except e-levy charges.
