Accra, Feb. 7, GNA - The management of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) will begin a sensitisation programme on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) from the end of February. ACH, which is largely an electronic funds transfer system, went live about two months ago. It makes transfer of funds less cumbersome and less expensive. According to officials of GhIPSS, all the banks would be involved in the sensitisation programme while close to 200 other companies would also b= e covered. The sensitisation is part of the roll out plan for the ACH and it is intended to increase participants' understanding of the system and how it can be applied extensively to improve on the payment system. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the General Manager in-charge of Project and Business Development, Mr Archie Hesse said participants would be educated on the various uses and benefits of ACH. The first part of the campaign, which is slated for the last week of the month, would solely be for the financial institutions.

Mr Hesse said although staff of the financial institutions had already been trained on how to use the system, the sensitisation was intended to further expose them to the variety of uses to which the ACH could be put to= ..

The second part of the sensitisation programme in March would cover various companies whose activities evolve around regular transfer of funds. It would include insurance companies, Oil Marketing Companies, haulage companies and utilities as well as telecommunications companies. Other participating companies in the exercise include airlines, mining companies, manufacturing and automobile dealers. Mr Hesse explained that the programme would be extensive and would cover most sectors.

The first two programmes would be held in Accra but the third part of the sensitisation would be held for companies that are in the regions and d= o not have offices in Accra. The General Manager said in addition to the programme for the companies, there would also be media campaigns to inform and encourage the public to use the ACH because of its enormous benefits to individuals and the economy at large. Mr Hesse urged staff of organisations that had been selected to participate, to make the best of the opportunity in order to support the effort towards improving the payment system in the country. He said as the country sought to attract investors, it was imperative that every effort be made to make the country's payment system comparable= to international trends. Mr Hesse called on customers of banks to demand from their bankers to set a Direct Credit Schemes for them so that they could make their recurrin= g payments such as commissions, utility bills, mortgage and hire purchase payments using the ACH.