R.B
JF-Expert Member
- May 10, 2012
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Authorities in Tanzania and Ghana are stepping up efforts to implement switches that will allow bankcard interoperability across all bank ATMs in each country
The Bank of Tanzania announced that it would introduce a national switch to enable customers of all banks use any machine at any time, in a bid to reduce complaints related to faulty ATMs.
According to the Deputy Minister for Finance Saada Mkuya Salum, the switch will work in more or less the same manner as the Umoja Switch, which connects customers of 16 banks in a network of about 110 ATMs across the East African nation.
Some of the recurrent issues with ATMs in Tanzania are lack of cash, faulty machines, power failure and a situation when some ATMs at a particular time issue receipts showing that a customer has withdrawn cash while the machine has not cashed-out the amount.
In Ghana, commercial banks are currently completing their integration with the national switch to ensure interoperability, which is expected to be operational by year end, according to Archie Hesse, Chief Executive of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS).
The GhIPSS says it is waiting for at least 15 banks to get connected to the national switch to activate the system, although a couple of lenders are already connected.
