Ghanaians who patronize commercial vehicle, widely known as 'Trotro' are likely to pay their transportation fares via electronic means after the Payment System and Service Bill is passed by Parliament.
Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana who disclosed this explained that “If you are going to board a Trotro all you need to do is just ask for the mobile money number of the driver, then you transfer the payment.
“This innovation will curtail the occasional scuffle between passengers and conductors over few Cedis changeâ€.
Dr Afari, while speaking at a symposium held at the University of Ghana noted that the regulation would allow most traditional payments to be done digitally and would change payment in Ghana and reduce queues at the banking halls.
â€Last year, we organised a stakeholders forum to discuss and review the Electronic Management Guidelines and Payment System Act and consolidated it into one piece of legislation which is now called the Payment System and Services bill. We have met the economic management team to make a case for the passage of the bill,†he mentioned.
The Bill, therefore, seeks to promote the availability and acceptance of electronic money and other forms of payment services as a retail payment medium.
It also seeks to create an enabling regulatory environment for convenient, efficient and safe retail payment and funds transfer mechanisms as well as provide the necessary safeguards and controls to mitigate the risks associated with electronic money business and other payment services.
The Deputy Governor said the Bank of Ghana had observed that the public had shown interest and appreciated recent innovative ways using technology to transact business.
With the introduction of formal banking in Ghana over 60 years ago, only 11.4 million out of the about 28 million Ghanaians had bank accounts.
However, after the institution of electronic money issuance guidelines in 2015, over 23 million people now have mobile money accounts.
Credit: citifmonline