GCB Bank has now become the latest to join with goSwiff for smartphone friendly point of sale services.
Global mobile payments innovator, goSwiff, has now partnered up with GCB Bank Ltd., bringing the total number of bank clients to fifty and giving more locations the opportunity to complete transactions at a point of sale through smartphones.
This will provide merchants and consumers with a new shopping opportunity at the checkout counter.
Equally, Simone Ranucci Brandimarte, the chief executive officer of the Singapore-based goSwiff, unveiled an entirely new business strategy for the global operations of the company. This addition of GCB Bank is the latest in a long and growing list of bank clients that have joined with the company in order to be able to offer mobile payments services to their merchant clients, within emerging markets.
Therefore, GCB Bank will be able to offer mobile payments services to its Ghana merchant customers.
The bank is the largest indigenous commercial bank in Ghana. According to the goSwiff chief strategy officer and President CEMEA, Erik Holst-Roness, GCB “leads the way in innovation with new banking technology. This is a bank with a strong commitment to customer service and the determination to make a change in the way their clients go about banking.”
The CEO of the bank, Simon Dornoo explained that he feels that the addition of the mobile point of sale system from goSwiff was a “natural choice” for them. He has observed the size of the company’s global experience and feels that by adding it to the options available to merchants, they will be able to enhance their “presence in the payment markets in Africa.”
Dornoo stated that the bank had been seeking a complete solution that would allow them to be able to develop this type of technology based service. They decided on goSwiff as the partner that they needed in order to be able to launch this type of smartphone payments option to their Ghanaian customers.
Mobile payments is a market that is taking off at an explosive rate in Africa, as it provides the ability to bring services to people who were previously completely unbanked.
Security could derail mobile payments in Ghana
Mobile payments have been gaining strong attention all over the world. As consumers become more heavily reliant on their smartphones and tablets, their interest in a cashless society grows. Such is the case in the African country of Ghana. More consumers in Ghana are gaining access to mobile technology and the government has been fostering a dream of a cashless economy that it has expected to see come to fruition in the near future. Mobile payments make a home in a perilous landscape, however, and the digital world contains threats that could derail Ghana’s dream economy.
Mobile security systems are still very lax
As mobile payments become more common in Ghana, so too does hacking and fraud. Internet fraud is quite active in Ghana; somewhat more so than in other African countries. Government officials have not yet found a way to curb this fraud or mitigate the damage that can be caused by hackers and these threats have stymied the growth of mobile commerce throughout the country. Major security issues may indeed prevent Ghana from attaining its dream of a cashless economy.
Developing a cashless economy proves challenging
In order to develop a new and comprehensive monetary system, Ghana will have to find a way to make mobile payments secure. This is no small task, as security remains a major problem even for countries like the U.S. and China when it comes to the issue of mobile payments. Even large companies like Google and Samsung have yet to find a way to make mobile payments completely secure. The threats that exist in the digital space have not yet become enough to deter consumers, however, many of whom are willing to participate in mobile commerce regardless of the risks they face.
Cash holds an important place with many businesses
Security issues are not the only challenge that Ghana faces in its hopes of establishing a cashless economy. There is currently a large volume of currency in circulation throughout the country, which makes the transition away from cash somewhat difficult. Moreover, physical currency plays a big role in many aspects of business in the country. Some small businesses will only accept payments that are made with cash and refuse to embrace mobile payments in any way whatsoever.
