Interbank Instant Pay goes live – GhIPSS

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS) has announced that interbank payment could now be effected instantly after its latest initiative, the Instant Pay, has gone live.

With the new service, bank customers could now transfer money from their accounts to another with a different bank and the recipient will have value for the money instantly.

The initiative is part of efforts by GhIPSS to modernise the country’s payment system in line with the cash-lite agenda.

The Chief Executive of GhIPSS Mr Archie Hesse described the initiative as a major breakthrough in the financial sector and said it would greatly facilitate business transactions.

He said the Instant Pay transfers are instant as the name suggest and urged businesses and individuals who must make instant transfers to request for the service from their banks.

Mr Hesse explained that the banking public now has a plethora of payment options to choose from depending on the exigency of the customer.

Before the introduction of the interbank instant pay, the earliest possible time for interbank transfers was between 3 to 4 hours for express cheques or Automated Clearing House.

However, most interbank transfers took between 24 and 72 hours to be effected.

Currently, nine banks are offering the Instant Pay service.  They are Zenith Bank, Capital Bank, UBA, Cal Bank, Royal Bank and Energy Bank.

The others are the Agriculture Development Bank, UMB and Standard Chartered Bank.

The remaining banks are at different stages of completion in order to also offer their customers, the service.

GhIPSS, since its establishment by the Central Bank has introduced a number of electronic payments services as part of its mandate to migrate Ghana into an electronic payment community.

Source: GNA