Ghanaian payment solutions provider, Express Pay has launched the first interbank and mobile cash instant money transfer service in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.

Dubbed “Bank Direct”, the service enables consumers to instantly send and receive money into their bank accounts from any Visa cardholder or mobile money wallet.

 The initiative is the result of local innovation and global capability with the international payments gateway giant, Visa lending its full support in collaboration with local banks in Ghana.

Speaking at the launch of the service, the General; Manager for Visa West Africa, Ade Ashaye revealed the development makes Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa where instant money transfer service on the Visa platform has been introduced.

“Being the best way to pay and be paid by anyone anywhere and everywhere, that’s what we’re trying to achieve with partners like Express Pay - creating solutions like Bank Direct based on platforms like Visa Direct, that’s how we’re going to get there.

“So I’ll just like to congratulate Ghana, for making strides in electronic payments and congratulate Express Pay for being the first Visa certified technical partner in the whole sub-Saharan Africa. That is, the first technical partner to create a solution on visa direct and congratulations for the launch of Bank direct. This is going to be the first of many innovations you will see from Visa and our partners Express Pay and the banks in the industry” he noted.

Funds transferred via the Bank Direct service will be deposited directly into the recipients’ bank account and can be accessed through branded point-of-sale terminals, ATMs and e-commerce merchants as well as other banking channels such as online banking, mobile banking, agents and branches.

Speaking to JOY BUSINESS after the launch, the CEO of Express-Pay, Curtis Vanderpuije also explained the service is expected to significantly change the mobile payments landscape by uniting traditional banking with mobile finance to the benefit of consumers.

“This is a new product on the express pay platform that makes it very easy for consumers to move money from one bank account to any another bank account in Ghana or move money from a mobile money network to any bank account.

“We are pleased to be the first in sub-Saharan Africa to launch this product that allows instant transfers across bank accounts. Now with bank direct, if I’m waiting for the funds and I need the funds instantly, I can get it and I can then transact with the funds. This means we are going to see more transactions”  he explained.

In his address, the 2^nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiamah also described the service as a key milestone in the country’s bid to encourage electronic financial transactions as opposed to the use of physical cash. He also announced plans by the Central Bank to soon announce revised regulations for Mobile Cash transactions in the country.

“We are beginning to see third party platforms such as Express Pay that are clearly taking Mobile Money a step further by enabling interoperable payments in uniting both mobile and traditional banking exchanges. This would certainly facilitate easier money management, better efficiency and opportunities to make the agenda of a cash-lite and a cashless society in Ghana a reality”

“The Electronic Money Issuers guidelines have engendered great interest of banks and non-bank institutions in the digital financial space. We are currently reviewing the law even further and will soon come out with a new law in that regard” he noted.