e-Zwich Reaches Out To Civil Servants

Civil and public servants in the national capital will be enrolled onto the national electronic platform, the e-zwich and issued with cards this week when the mass registration roadshow stops at the ministries starting tomorrow, October 29.

The exercise, starting from Wednesday to Friday, will eventually enable the government's policy to pay salaries through the e-zwich cards become a reality.

Officials of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana which is implementing the e-zwich project, said all banks would set up their work stations at one location at the Ministries to enrol workers at the ministries departments and agencies in Accra.

The General Manager of GhIPSS in charge of Business Development, Mr Archie Hesse, explained to the Daily Graphic that the decision to organise the mass registration for the civil and public servants was to offer a unique opportunity for the workers who might not have the time to go to the banks or attend banking fairs to walk to one close location and get a smart card.

Government intends to eventually pay workers' salaries on the e-zwich card as part of efforts to reduce cash transactions in the country in line with global trends .

 It is therefore essential for the workers to get the e-zwich smart cards in readiness for the policy.

According to him, after this week's exercise at the ministries, the next set of e-zwich enrolment events would take place next month in the Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi.

The e-zwich mass registration exercise has been held at various locations since August this year with the last one held at Osu over the weekend.

With increasing patronage of Internet shopping and other e-commerce transactions which usually come with a discount, officials are hopeful that as many people own and use the e-zwich card, information technology experts can leverage and develop local e-commerce websites that would enable people to use their e-zwich cards to shop via the internet.

Already, British Airways has announced its plans to accept the e-zwich card for the purchase of its tickets and other major services providers are doing the same.