SSB Launches Sika Card

Accra The Bank of Ghana today expressed dissatisfaction with large currency holdings outside the banking system and urged financial institutions to be innovative in mobilising savings. Mr. Kwesi Bernasko, Secretary, noted that currency holdings outside the banking sector have been at an "unacceptable" level of about 50 per cent. ''These indicators bear testimony to the fact that the Ghanaian economy is still very largely cash-based,'' he said, at the launching of a new financial product, Sika Card, introduced by the Social Security Bank (SSB) in Accra. Mr. Bernasko who represented the Governor of the Bank said until financial intermediaries make it easy for people to put their money in the banks, the expected provision of more services by the financial system will not materialise. He, therefore, welcomed the use of the Sika Card as a positive means of eliminating the inconvenience of using large sums of money for transactions. Mr. Bernasko said substantial accumulation of cash outside the banking system deprives the banks of vital deposits, while it costs the nation scarce foreign exchange to replace defaced currency notes. Touching on the Sika Card, Mr. Bernasko said he believes it will revolutionize the payment system since it is based on the realisation that in the Ghanaian economy most transactions are cash-based. The Sika Card, which is similar to a world-wide "Smart Card", will serve as an alternative to using bank notes and cheques because it enables the holders to conduct transactions with one another and the bank without the use of cash. It is available to both customers and non-account operators of SSB at a price of 5,000 cedis. Once bought, the card will be loaded electronically with equivalent cash presented at the Bank's counter or transferred from an account in a bank other than SSB. The card, which will basically reduce dependency on physical cash, can be used for payments of goods and services as well as debiting for cash at designated merchant points. The card will be used on pilot basis in Accra for the first month.