GhIPSS and Visa agree to a collaboration for domestic processing.

Ghana’s national payment systems infrastructure provider, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), today announced a ground-breaking collaboration with Visa, a leader in digital payments globally, enabling GhIPSS to process domestic transactions denominated in Ghana Cedi using Visa cards issued in Ghana.

The Bank of Ghana’s Guidelines for Domestic Processing of Payment Card Transactions with Payment Cards Issued in Ghana comply with this strategic partnership. The rules, which were released in August 2021, provide foreign card systems the means to handle their domestic transactions on a local level.

Through this partnership, Visa benefits from GhIPSS’s distinct role as the National Switch and a supplier of interoperable platforms for digital financial services, in addition to its sixteen-year history of handling payments within Ghana.

Incorporating Visa’s cutting-edge payment processing technology within its platform would also help GhIPSS fulfill its brand promise to local consumers.

“For our company, partnering with Visa is a significant milestone. Archie Hesse, CEO of GhIPSS, stated, “It is a fantastic opportunity for us to use Visa’s resources and experience to improve what we do while providing value to Visa consumers in Ghana. “We are optimistic that this collaboration will succeed and grow into more areas of shared interest down the road.”

He claims that while the agreement does away with payments paid in dollars to the former processing organizations overseas, it also promises to save some money for local banks and their clients.

Furthermore, as a state-owned payment switch required by the Bank of Ghana to serve the public interest, GhIPSS will consciously seek to reduce costs for banks as well as individual users, all the while capitalizing on the increased volume of transactions on its platform as a result of this agreement.

Additionally, Archie Hesse pointed out that the agreement aims to increase financial inclusion on several fronts:

Banks with non-visa ATMs may now be sure that they can make their non-Visa ATMs Visa compliant to serve more customers for less money, as Visa transactions are processed locally.
People who are not in the middle class may now get visa services since the fee will be decreased.
Finally, consumers may receive international remittances directly on their combined Visa-link Cards and purchase online using the Visa-link cards when they combine their Visa Card and GhIPSS link Cards.
Archie Hesse is optimistic that the collaboration with Visa will allow Fintechs to continue innovating and expanding financial inclusion, in addition to helping banks and their clients.

Andrew Uaboi, Vice President and Cluster Head of Visa West Africa stated: “This partnership demonstrates our steadfast dedication to promoting the growth of financial inclusion throughout Ghana.” We think that by utilizing our extensive worldwide network and cutting-edge payment options, we can empower people and companies and promote prosperity and economic progress for everybody.

Additionally, he gave Ghanaians his word that Visa will do all within its power to guarantee that, under the auspices of this cooperation, the cost of its services is kept lower for banks and customers, in keeping with the goals of Bank of Ghana and GhIPSS.

In the meanwhile, the parties are still working out the technical and business aspects of the collaboration before deciding what advantages they can provide banks and clients. Nonetheless, it is anticipated that the advantages will materialize before the year’s end.