Stanbic Bank supports cashless economy drive
Stanbic Bank Ghana has expressed its determination to support the national drive towards a cashless economy. Consequently, the bank is taking advantage of the platforms offered by BoG and the Ghana Interbank Payment Platform Service (GHIPPS) to drive the effort.
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Speaking to a cross-section of the financial media in Accra, the Head of the Transaction Payment Systems at the bank, Mr John Prempeh, said, “Evidence shows that electronic payment transactions are quickly replacing cheques and cash and Stanbic Bank’s suite of products and solutions provide opportunities for existing and potential clients, that is for companies and individuals, to collect or make their payments in a timely and efficient manner”.
Among the products mentional was the Stanbic Direct Debit; he explained that it worked through an instruction from a creditor to its bank authorising the bank to collect an agreed amount(s) from the bank account of the creditor’s customer.
“So long as the customer has signed a mandate and has been given advance notice of the collection amount and date. This covers recurring payments and collections will be done by the bank until the mandate is cancelled”, Mr Prempeh said.
The bank’s PayPLUS product is a one-stop platform used in the collection of all receivables and the payment of all payables that the client might require.
It has a validation and notification functionality and the reporting can be customised to serve the customers’ peculiar requirements.
On the bank’s electronic banking, he mentioned the Internet Banking and new Business Online (nBol) and added that the key features of “our collection and payment platforms include reliable collection platform; speedy processing and reporting of transactions; validation and notification of transaction or collections and flexible and adaptable solutions and reporting formats that can be amended to suit client requirements”.
On the bank’s Payments Solutions, he mentioned the new business online/electronic banking platform and the outward telegraphic transfers; Mobile Money; Ezwich; Cheque Payments and Real Time Gross Settlements/GIS, of which the target customers were the telecoms, Electricity Company of Ghana /Ghana Water and other utility companies; insurance claims payments; e-ticketing – airlines, hotels and the manufacturing and industry.
Mr Michael Charway of the TPS department of the bank said there were three reasons to set up a Direct Debit, which helps to save money, save time and hassle and also gives the customer peace of mind.
On how the Direct Debit would be beneficial to the companies, he said, there would be improved cash flow, time saving; streamline of banking; and improved security
For her part, Ms Marian Amartey said the new business online banking platform puts online corporate and business banking at the fingertips of customers within its 24-hour availability and added that the system would help avoid or minimise the errors and forgery that came along with manual processing.
By Charles Benoni Okine/Daily Graphic/Ghana