Foreign Remittance recipeints can get fund via bank accounts

Recipients of foreign remittance can now opt to have the money paid directly to their bank account, following a collaboration between Unity Link remittance company and Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS).

This collaboration also enables intended beneficiaries to receive their remittances directly on their e-zwich card.

The cash to account remittance as it is called, brings about a lot of convenience as recipients would not need to queue to receive their money.

It also prevents the situation where people queue to receive their remittance only to queue again to pay that money into their bank account.

Currently, only Unity Link is using this cash to account channel created by GhIPSS although several remittance agencies have expressed interest in also signing up to it.

Since Unity Link started offering the cash to account option to its customer, a total of 10.9 million cedis have been paid directly to bank accounts of recipients representing some 6,569 different remittance transactions.

Speaking in an interview, the Chief Executive of Unity Link Mr Douglas Mensah said the level of convenience that the cash to account provides has accounted for the increased customer interest in the service.

He said it also helps recipients to save monies received from relations abroad as the temptation to squander it when they receive the physical cash is avoided.

In the first month of the cash to account initiative, only GHC95,000 was remitted through this channel but close to 3 million Ghana cedis was remitted in October, showing an impressive growth in patronage of the service.

Mr Mensah expressed the hope that patronage would double during the yuletide as more people remit their relations for the Christmas festivities.

The cash to account form of remittance is one of the initiatives by GhIPSS to rope more people into the banking system and reduce the unbanked population.

The Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse commended Unity Link for believing in the initiative and playing a pioneering role.

He urged other remittance companies to use the service to create convenience and value addition for their customers.