The Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana, has introduced a Near Real Time (NRT) Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Credit platform that allows Corporate Institutions to make bulk payments much faster.

The service, being rendered in collaboration with the banks, is designed to enhance the efficiency of making bulk payments such as salaries, pensions and dividends within just 15 minutes, instead of the previous four to 24 hours.

A statement from GhIPSS said the platform provided corporate Institutions a viable alternative to Cheques and allowed them to credit the accounts of beneficiaries on a bulk payments list within 15 minutes. NRT is an addition to GhIPSS’ existing ACH Direct Credit platform.

This means, under this new ACH DC NRT regime, it will take 15 minutes for money sent from one source account to multiple accounts in different banks to be credited to the receivers’ accounts instead of the previous 24 hours.

“Corporate institutions have the opportunity to make bulk payments anytime between 6:00pm the previous day and 3:00pm the following day and the payees’ accounts will be credited in 15 minutes – almost in real time,” it explained.

GhIPSS said NRT is an efficient payment option, which provided transparency and certainty of payments because it allowed banks of corporate institutions to re-present returned payment details within the same session.

GhQR is considered a key enabler for Ghana’s quest to migrate into en electronic payment society. The country is hoping to ride on the back of the payment service to become one of the first countries on the continent to have a cashless economy.

The Chief Executive of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) Archie Hesse has urged the public to consider GhQR as one of their regular modes of payments. This, he explained, would enable more people enjoy the benefits associated with the service considered simple, efficient and secured.