Published
4 years agoon
Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged all merchants in the informal and formal sectors to acquire and start using the all-new, all-inclusive Universal Quick Response Code (QR Code) system developed for Ghana, as part of efforts by the Akufo-Addo government, to migrate the economy from a cash-based one to a cash-lite one.
Outdooring the QR Code at Auntie Muniâs, a popular waakye joint on Thursday, 19 November 2020, Dr Bawumia said the system is so flexible and easy to use by everybody to receive or pay for anything electronically.
âWe are here to formally outdoor the Ghana Quick Response Code system or the QR Code, as it is known for short. Itâs a very very historic day because we are solving a major problem here in Ghana and it is historic because Ghana will be the first country in Africa, to launch a QR Code payment system; and not only are we the first in Africa, we are also, as far as Iâm aware, the third country in the world to do a Universal Quick Response System after Singapore and Indiaâ, the Vice-President said.
According to him, even the QR Codes systems of Singapore and India âonly cater for bank customersâ but âGhanaâs QR Code system will cater for both bank and non-bank customersâ, explain: âThat is those who use mobile money as well as have bank accountsâ.
âSo, in this regard, Ghanaâs QR Code system is unique and it is the first of its kind in the world and, so, we have to be rightfully proud as Ghanaians that we have a technology to solve a problem that exists in our society but in doing so, we are really leading the world in this manner and, so, I am very proud here and it has taken collaborative effortâ, Dr Bawumia noted.
He said: âWe just didnât wake up and find a Universal QR Code in Ghana. The Ministry of Communication has been critical; the Bank of Ghana, GhIPPS, banks, telcos, fintechs â this is what is so unique about the Ghana story; itâs very very unique that we have had collaboration from all these stakeholders and weâve been able to actually come up with this Universal QR Codeâ.
Explain its function, Dr Bawumia said: âA QR Code, essentially, allows merchants or all people who receive payments, to receive the payments on their mobile phones. So, if you go, you can pay using your mobile phone; the merchant can receive the payment using the mobile phone, instantlyâ.
âSo, you scan the QR Code and then you can confirm that this is the merchant and Iâm paying this amount to the merchant, so, itâs very secure in that regard; it is very convenientâ, he observed, adding: âWe are solving a problem that has been with us practically since independence: weâre a cash-based economy and a cash-based economy is a very inefficient economy and we are cash-based because so many people are excluded from the financial system, so, we do a lot of financial transactions through cash, which means robberies can take place, as people carry cash aroundâ, Dr Bawumia noted.
He said the technology also comes in handy as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the world.
âIn this COVID environment, in fact, one of the ways you transmit the virus is by handling things like cash; e-commerce, too, doesnât develop if you have a cash-based economy, so, we have been thinking, since weâve been in office, of how to solve this problem: how do we move Ghana from this cash-based economy to an electronic payment-based economy?â
âWe have attacked this problem in two ways: first of all, weâve implemented mobile money interoperability â the best of its kind that weâve implemented, so, you have interoperability between bank accounts, mobile wallets and e-zwich accounts. No other country has been able to do this in the world; and then beyond this, weâve brought in the QR Code, which is riding on the real-time rails that we have with the mobile money interoperability and Ghana Instant Pay System (GhIPPS Instant Pay).
âSo, we are solving this problem, saying that: OK, if you are a merchant, any type of merchant or even if youâre a shoeshine boy or a trotro operator, one of the problems of going electronic is that the infrastructure, most merchants donât have or cannot afford a point-of-sales device, itâs very expensive for small merchants to maintain; you pay fees and so on and itâs very cumbersome and, so, if you are a small merchant, a QR Code for a small merchant means all payments go directly into your bank account or into your mobile money wallet right there, so, you donât need to be carrying that cashâ.
âAnd, for anybody who uses the QR Code to make a payment, itâs free; you donât pay any fee. The merchant is also not charging any fee and anybody can set up a QR Code for just around 50p.
âIf you are a merchant and you need the QR Code, you can talk to your provider, being the bank, telcos or whatever and for just around 50p, you can set it up. So, if youâre a waakye seller or koko seller or trotro operator, a church or mosque or school or utility provider, a shoeshine boy, you can have a QR Code.
âIf youâre organising a funeral and you want to get donations electronically, you can put the QR Code on the invitation or the brochure and people can just scan it and pay donations straight to you. You donât need to carry bankers to your funeral to collect cash. So, itâs so versatile, available for everybody to useâ, Dr Bawumia explained.
Dr Bawumia used it to buy some waakye to demonstrate how it works.
To him, the coming into effect of the QR Code system means âis a very bad news for armed robbersâ, since a lot of transactions would be done electronically now.
Source: Classfmonline.com