Merchants in Ghana Must Deploy More POS and Other Electronic Payment Channels

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank and Payment System (GhIPSS), Archie Hesse, has said that a concerted effort is required to populate the country with many point of sales (POS) and other electronic payment channels. He said the State, stakeholder institutions and business owners, must work together to ensure effective deployment of POSes and other devices that accept electronic payments.

Electronic payment cards, internet banking and mobile money have created a huge volume of electronic payments but the CEO of GhIPSS noted that most of the transactions on these channels still end up in cash. “A lot of us have debit and even credit cards in Ghana, as well as mobile money wallets, but most of us go and take cash from the ATMs and our Momo wallet”. This practice, Mr. Hesse argues, defeats the real purpose of electronic payments and must be changed.

The GhIPSS boss catalogues a number of steps that must be taken to reverse the trend. According to him, POSes and various apps that will enable people to make payments with cards and mobile money must be sufficiently deplored. He said GhIPSS will partner with stakeholders to champion the cause of deploying more electronic payment outlets. He also said banks in partnership with merchants can introduce incentive packages for people who pay with cards or mobile money to encourage their users. He intimated that there might be the need for policies to incentivise electronic payments and discourage cash and added that GhIPSS will work closely with stakeholders to explore those options.

Meanwhile, business owners are also asking for tax waivers on POSes and other devices for electronic payments, so that they can acquire and deploy more of them. They argue that such waivers will not only enable them to acquire more of such devices but it will also make it easier for them to institute incentives for those who use them.

Experts have said the use of electronic payments is efficient and cheaper compared to the handling of cash by merchants. They have also indicated that business owners are likely to make more sales when they have these devices because shoppers are able to spend more than they would if they were using cash. These merits, they say, make the acquisition and deployment of the electronic payment devices by shop owners a profitable venture.