Chief Executive of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System, Archie Hesse, says the GhQR code payment service has been designed to replace the relatively more expensive payment systems found in shopping centres across the country.

The GhQR code system of payment is a contactless mode of payment involving the scanning of a QR code and an endorsement on any mobile device to pay for goods and services.

Alternatively, USSD codes are provided for persons without smartphones.

In a media engagement following the first of a series of activation programmes at major shopping malls in Accra and Kumasi, the CEO of GhIPSS, Archie Hesse, said the system is intended to make payment for goods and services easier, cheaper and more convenient.

“You know there are PoS devices which are expensive and only found in most high earn shops and supermarkets in Ghana, but that is not where the ordinary Ghanaian shops. We normally buy our things at Agbogbloshie and other such markets, that is why we designed the GHQR code which replaces the PoS devices. The QR codes cost next to nothing to print and display in shops or online, and that makes it very cost-effective”.

Partnering banks who also mounted their stands at the Junction mall to participate in the activation exercise say the GhQR will be a game-changer in how businesses are done in Ghana.

The manager of Calbank Tema-Main, Henry Teye Sackie told the press the new system helps both the merchant and the buyer to transact at a very minimal cost.

Mr. Tackie further noted that with bank applications like the Calbank app, for example, the QR code could be loaded alongside products displayed online and payment could be effected by scanning the QR code from the gallery, making the process more simple and convenient.

A cashier at the Junction Mall branch of Woodin, Isaac Dapaah told Citi Business News the GhQR payment system has proven more efficient and less costly thus far.