Shopping and paying online will be real within Ghana when the national switch becomes operational. The national electronic switch is near completion as some test runs are currently being carried out. When it becomes operational, one of the exciting features will be an e-commerce gateway. The Chief Executive of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) Fred France, who disclosed this, said a number of businesses are positioning themselves to take advantage of this opportunity. There is already some level of e-commerce or Internet shopping going on in Ghana, but without a payment system people are only able to view products and place orders. Payment for such goods and services are however done physically and not online. However, with the National Switch in place, people living in Ghana can enjoy the full convenience of online shopping. Mr. France said that the e-commerce gateway that will be part of the National Switch will be linked to all the banks. This, he explained, will enable settlement of transactions among the banks to take place. He is very hopeful that while GhIPSS will provide the infrastructure, various service providers will launch onto it and create the platform for people to shop and pay online. He emphasised that the system is robust and secured, adding that Ghana is fast launching itself into the league of countries with modern payment systems. Airline and hotel reservations are the most common forms of e-commerce; however, a number of shopping outlets, restaurants and other service providers also provide the opportunity for customers to make enquiries and place orders online. Mr. France believes these activities will expand several-fold when payment is possible online. He anticipates a whole chain of businesses will emerge and develop as people shop and pay online. He said the traffic situation in the big cities is getting worse partly because people must move for everything they require; adding that when people can shop from the comfort of the computers and even mobile phones, there will be a reduction in the number of vehicles on the roads. Mr. France also mentioned that government revenue in the form of taxes, registration fees and levies can be paid online, removing the human interface and reducing the elements that aid corruption and pilfering while creating convenience for the customer. He urged the public to see the electronic payment system and other Information Technology services as very important tools that should be used to make life a lot easier and carry out business activities efficiently. Mr. France is hopeful that the national switch will become operation by next month and the banks will then be expected to connect to the system to ensure that their customers enjoy the enhanced service. The time that it will take for a bank to connect to the system will depend largely on the bank itself. The national switch will also enable all existing automated teller machines (ATM) cards to work in all ATM machines, while all the ATM cards will also be accepted in the e-zwich point of sales (POS) devices.