GCB begins electronic money issuance

Following the Bank of Ghana’s approval to GCB Bank to issue electronic money, the bank has effectively announced the birth of G-Money, the first mobile money service to be offered by an indigenous bank beginning January next year.

The initiative will offer an electronic value of money, backed by equivalent cash to provide customers with access to electronic wallets.

The bank will leverage on USSD, GCB’s internet banking platform, mobile banking application, point of sale device (POS), quick respond code (QR code) and ATMs to offer customers the needed access to electronically accessible wallets.

Addressing dignitaries and bank officials and stakeholders in Accra last Thursday, GCB’s MD, Mr. Ray Anselm Sowah, highlighting on the benefits of the service, said, “G-Money affords customers the freedom to perform transactions regardless of their mobile network operator”.

Equally, GCB seeks to deliver superior customer service through its extensive branch network complemented by a vast agent network of local entrepreneurs.

With support of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), G-Money has been integrated to existing mobile money operators with an interoperable feature which would allow transactions involving mobile money wallets and bank accounts.

As part of the road map for rolling out in January, the bank’s top management maintains that the application programme interface (API) will be exposed to local and international financial technology firms (FINTECHS) to provide corresponding services through their channels.

Mr. Sowah however claims that, G-Money is not providing direct competition to telecom companies; rather,  the initiative is purely designed to increase customer satisfaction at a time that conventional banks and other financial institutions have been charged by the central bank to create better access to financial services to the excluded population.

“Issues of security and fraud mitigation measures have been put in place to allow this service to serve as catalyst for extending basic financial services beyond the existing branch networks” he asserted.

Notable offerings of the G-Money service include, telco agnostic mobile money service and wallet availability to GCB and non-GCB customers, access to receive and send money, buy and pay for goods and services, offering of financial and micro financial services at competitive rates, the ability to save and borrow money with G-Money accounts.