Plans to pay the monthly allowance of National Service personnel through the national biometric card, the e-zwich, has begun on a pilot basis. The exercise began with two districts, Ga South in the Greater Accra region and the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan area in the Western Region. Over 800 National Service persons in these districts are being paid their March allowance on their e-zwich cards. The processing of the e-money takes place at the district level and the monies are immediately credited to the cards of the personnel. The personnel will however continue to sign each month at their districts to prove that they are at post before the allowance is processed. According Ms Effie Graham, Business Manager at Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), a number of National Service persons already have their e-zwich cards. She however adds that those who do not have the biometric cards are enrolled and issued with the cards before the payments are made. The exercise has taken off smoothly, in the two districts and will be extended to the Kumasi Metropolitan area in the Ashanti region and Tema in the Greater Accra region by next month when the April allowances are paid. Currently, Ghana Commercial Bank is assisting the processing of the e-money in Sekondi/Takoradi, but the district office of the Service Secretariat will be trained to man the system in the near future. It is the hope of GhIPSS, that National Service persons in the entire Western, Ashanti, Greater Accra and Eastern Regions will be receiving their monthly allowances on their biometric e-zwich cards by June this year. The officials explain that apart from the prompt receipt of allowances, the service personnel will also have the opportunity to save part of their allowances on the savings wallet and enjoy good rates offered by the banks. They will also pick up the habit of using electronic cards at a much younger age. The management of the National Service Secretariat is upbeat about the project and have fully cooperated with GhIPSS to ensure its success. The payment of the allowances on the e-zwich card will also completely eliminate ghost-names from the payroll, if there are any. Meanwhile, the General Manager in charge of Project and Business Development, Archie Hesse, says one sure way that government can address the perennial problem of ghost names in the public sector, particularly the educational sector, is by paying workers salaries through their e-zwich cards. GhIPSS has its Payment Distribution System that will enable government to pay workers onto the biometric cards. Source: B&FT