Ghana registers USD 28.7 bln worth cheque transactions in 2014

It means a 32.4% increase as compared to 2013, when the value of cheque transactions was valued at USD 21.6 billion (GHS 73 billion), ghanaweb.com reports. Total transactions through the clearing house grew by 26% to 11.2 million transactions in 2014 from 8.9 million transactions in 2013. This involved the issuance of 6.44 million to 6.84 million cheques by the end of 2014.

Out of the figure, express cheques, which many banks have adopted as a value-adding service for their clients, went up to 119,842 presentments, recording a significant 441%  increase in value from USD 890 million (GHS 3.12 billion) USD 5 (GHS 16.88 billion) in 2014. The clearing house service, one of the services that Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements System (GhIPSS) offers, remains the largest contributor with 85% of transaction volumes.

GhIPSS has currently rolled out the e-zwich smart card for electronic payments enabling the Cheque Codeline Clearing with Cheque Truncation (CCC), a process of clearing cheques electronically, and the Ghana Automated Clearing House, which allows the electronic debit and credit of funds into deposit accounts and the gh-link. The products and services are aimed at providing options for electronic payments, thereby limiting the use of cash transactions.

All the services of GhIPSS recorded an overall growth of 29% in transaction volumes in 2014, up to 13 million transactions, as against 10 million in 2013. The contributions of gh-link service, which supports ecommerce and interbank automated teller machine switching, has grown from 5% in 2013 to 10% in 2014. All banks in the country, except one, have configured their automated teller machines (ATMs) to make their cards interoperable through a system that GhIPSS built. This means that irrespective of a bank’s card a customer holds, it could be used on any ATM without any charge, compared to the foreign cards which charged high fees for interbank ATM use.

The Automated Clearing House has direct credit and debit clearing arrangements. According to GhIPSS, there are 83 registered companies on the ACH direct debit scheme with 39 registered in 2014 alone. Total value of presentment grew by 106% in 2014. Volumes also grew by 205% in 2014. For the direct credit, total value of presentment grew by 66% in 2014. Volumes also grew by 70% in 2014 to 3.7 million from 2.2 million in 2013.