Digital payment adoption key to bridging SME credit gap – Access Bank

The lack of reliable financial records remains a major barrier preventing many small businesses from accessing formal credit, Executive Director of Retail and SME Banking at Access Bank Ghana PLC, Eugene Ocansey, has said.

He said many businesses operate informally and therefore struggle to provide financial information that banks can use to assess their operations and creditworthiness.

According to him, expanding the use of digital payment systems could help address the problem by creating transaction records that give financial institutions better visibility into the activities of small businesses.

Speaking at the launch of Visa Accept in Accra on Friday, September 18, Mr Ocansey said digital payment tools could therefore play a role in moving informal businesses into the formal economy.

“One of the reasons why access to credit is a barrier is that there is no way you can track what they do. Once you give them a tool that can bring their money, and everybody can see what they do, now we can afford to offer them credit,” he said.

He said greater adoption of digital payments could help businesses gradually move from the nano and micro levels into larger and more structured enterprises.

Visa Accept, launched by Access Bank and Visa, allows eligible business account holders to receive payments through their smartphones without requiring a physical point-of-sale device.

The solution supports payments through contactless Visa cards, QR codes and payment links, with transactions settled directly into the merchant's linked Access Bank account.