Organisations and companies, which used the e-zwich to pay various remunerations, have made a lot of savings from the biometric card, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) has said.
The savings stem from a fall in the amount of money used to pay the same number of intended recipients when the biometric system is applied and duplications and ghost names eliminated.

Currently, some 33 organisations and companies use the e-zwich to pay salaries and commissions properly termed the e-zwich Payment Distribution System (PDS).
While the PDS is not complicated and does not cost much to set up, it has proven to be one of the most effective ways to pay employees, especially those who are working from different locations in the country.

The multiple bio search technology attached to the PDS enables firms to weed out duplications. It also ensures that the payment is accessed by the right and intended person using the e-zwich biometric card.

Speaking in an interview, the Head of Verified Payments at GhIPSS, Mrs Mary Dei Sarpong, said the PDS had proven to be very effective in managing payrolls.
She explained that apart from the dispatch with which payments get to intended recipients regardless of their location in Ghana, the system had also helped organisations to address payroll fraud.

She said a number of companies or organisations who had to transport cash in order to pay wages and salaries in remote areas, but now use e-zwich had saved themselves the risk and cumbersome process associated with cash payments.

Mrs Dei Sarpong called on organisations to approach GhIPSS to be assisted to set up and use e-zwich to pay salaries and commissions to their workers.
'The flexibility and efficiency that comes with using the e-zwich PDS is amazing and I invite particularly organisations that continue to pay cash directly to employees as salaries to come and let's talk,' she said.

There are over 2.4 million e-zwich cardholders with at least 1.3 million of these cards with values at each point in time.
Government agencies have been major users of the e-zwich PDS but there are 23 private companies also using the system.
Funds on e-zwich cards can be accessed from any bank branch and e-zwich agent outlets.

There are also hybrid Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) on which e-zwich cards can be used as well as hybrid Point of Sales (POS) devices.
These various outlets have made it easy for e-zwich cardholders to access funds on the card. It is also now possible for foreign remittances to be paid directly onto e-zwich card, which has also increased its utility.

SOURCE: GNA