e-Zwich patronage grows by 138%
The use of e-Zwich, the biometric smart card, continues to grow exponentially as measures put in place to drive usage bear fruits. The volume of transactions recorded 138.3 per cent growth in 2016 over the performance in 2015, according to a performance report released by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Ltd (GhIPSS).
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Patronage went up from 2.2 million in 2014 to 5.3 million transactions.
The growth in e-Zwich patronage last year follows an equally impressive growth of 260 per cent in 2015 compared to 2014.
The significant growth in the patronage of e-Zwich, officials said, stemmed from a number of policy decisions and initiatives, including the use of the platform to pay beneficiaries of various government social intervention programmes.
The use of the payment system by private sector organisations is also on the rise due to its suitability as a payment medium for companies with staff scattered across the country.
The growth in the value of e-Zwich transactions was even higher, up by 156 per cent from about GH¢922 million to over GH¢2.3 billion in 2016, making e-zwich the fastest growing initiative by GhIPSS in terms of volume and value.
The report also indicated that cash withdrawals recorded the highest growth among e-Zwich transactions, going up by 182 per cent from 900,000 in 2015 to 2.6 million in 2016.
Cross-border remittances
Last year, it became possible for e-Zwich card holders to receive international remittances directly onto their cards from any Unity Link Remittance agents in Europe.
Over 7,000 of such transactions took place in the second half of last year after its introduction.
The Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, said the international remittance to e-Zwich card service would be extended to other remittance companies this year as a number of companies were working to complete the process and be connected to the platform.
Expanding reach
The GhIPSS, late last year, also started another initiative to allow individuals and enterprises to offer e-Zwich services, making the service more prevalent and accessible than in previous times when it was restricted to banks and savings and loans companies only.
In an interview, Mr Hesse expressed optimism that the growth in e-Zwich patronage would continue to surge and explained that the uniqueness of the service made it suitable for many organisations.