The public is being urged to make use of electronic forms of payments and reduce the risk of losing their money during the yuletide.

The Christmas season is a commercially vibrant period of the year which usually sees an increase in theft and robbery cases.

As the Ghana Police cautions the public to pay attention to their personal security, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), is also urging the public to use the various electronic payment options available and move about with less cash.

Mr Archie Hesse, the Chief Executive of GhIPSS, in an interview with the GNA, said it was not necessary for people to move about with huge sums of money and risk attacks from criminals.

He said there were a number of electronic payment options available that could enable people make payments without using cash.

Mr Hesse said the ACH Direct Credit is a secure way of paying someone or a group of people electronically and added that ACH Express was available for those who wanted same day payments.

The GhIPSS Boss said mobile money, e-zwich, internet banking and payment through cheques, which also has an express window, as well as several others should be heavily patronized, to reduce exposure to theft, robbery, fire and flood incidents during the festive season.

On shopping during the yuletide, the public is being challenged to use their debit cards (popularly called ATM cards) to shop when they visit outlets that have the Point of Sales (POS) terminals.

Mr Hesse also challenged shop owners to speak to their bankers and get the POSes, so they can offer cashless payment options to their customer.

‘Let’s remember that having your debit card, means you have your entire bank account, very safe in your pocket and so it makes a lot of business sense for shop owners to have POSes”, he said.

Mr Hesse said “the issue of crime during the yuletide and indeed the entire year cannot be ignored and not only should we ensure our personal safety but also of our hard earned money”.

The GhIPSS Boss also advised organisations to use ACH Direct Credit to make their bulk payments such as salaries, dividends, insurance claims, and pension benefits particularly during the yuletide.

This, according to him, will ensure that the recipients, who may be at different locations and with different banks, will still receive the monies promptly, without the usual delays associated with the traditional way of making such bulk payments.