CUA Money Transfer Service Launched

Mr Cyprian K.A. Basing - Board Chairman, CUA

A new local money transfer service that allows for the transfer of money to relations and business associates through the credit union system has been launched by the Ghana Co-operative Credit Union Association (CUA) Limited.

It has been introduced by CUA to enhance its means of remittance and also, make for prompt business transactions.

Known as the CUALink Money Transfer, it is a web based platform, managed by Afric Xpress Services Incorporated, a payment solutions provider. CUALink provide services such as electronic savings deposits, electronic loan re-payment, inter credit union transactions, bill payments and unit top up.

The National Board Chairman of the CUA, Mr Cyprian K.A. Basing, who launched the system in Accra, said the new service has been designed to provide a great relief for CUA members who go through the inconvenience of carrying bulk cash around to transact business.

He explained that with the CUA membership currently standing at 550,000 it was realised that members needed an enhanced means of remitting money as well as transacting business promptly without the threat of armed robbery attacks. The CUALink Money Transfer is currently being piloted in 40 credit unions across the country.

Explaining how the system operated, Mr Basing said it worked through a mobile phone service. He said the platform would request from the client a cell phone number of the recipient and that of the sender which meant that both the receiver and the sender on the money transfer must have a reliable cell phone in order to receive a confirmation message about the respective transacton that would be undertaken from the credit union.

He said the CUA had championed a lot of services for credit unions in Ghana over the years in the financial sector, adding that savings and credit facilities have been most prominent with competitive and attractive interest rates.

On the financial strength of the CUA, the national board chairman said the association has been able to mobilise more than GHc250 million as savings and granted loans to the tune of GHc150 million to its members. He added that its total assets as of December 2010 stood at GHc250 million.

The Vice President of Afric Xpress Ghana Limited in charge of Operations, a subsidiary of Afric Xpress Services Incorporated in Ghana, Mr Kofi Kufuor, in his remarks said the partnership between his outfit and the CUA was informed by the effort of theBank of Ghana to build a cashless society devoid of stress.

He described the new system as prompt, convenient and reliable which, he noted, sought to carry the CUA along other systems where transacting businesses using cell phones was the order of the day.

The CUA is the apex body of the credit unions movement in Ghana. It was established in 1955 at Jirapa in the Upper West Region.There are 525 credit unions across the country with a membership of more than 550,000.