Ghana could find itself back on the online payment company PayPal within the next two years, after being blacklisted for almost 15 years.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that Ghana has had some discussions with PayPal and outlined a roadmap to get Ghana back on the platform.
Speaking at the launch of the first phase of Ghana’s mobile interoperability system on Thursday, Dr. Bawumia said the return to Paypal could happen in 2020.
“I am happy to announce that Ghana has concluded discussions with PayPal, and Ghana will therefore, if all goes well, will become one of the PayPal compliant countries in two phases. According to the roadmap presented by PayPal, by the second half of 2019, Ghanaian merchants should be able to receive payments for their goods sold online. By the first half of 2020 Ghanaian consumers would be able to make payments for goods and services purchased online via Paypal accounts,” Dr. Bawumia said.
He urged the various stakeholders, including the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS). “to make this happen within this time frame and also to prepare for the opportunities it presents.”
“I would ask that GHIPSS puts together a working group of stakeholders to work to implement this roadmap. This presents exciting opportunities for Ghana and we should take full advantage of it,” he stated.
In 2004, PayPal blacklisted Ghana, along with Nigeria and some other sub-Saharan countries due to the high incidence of credit card fraud from these countries, mostly on eBay and Amazon online stores.
Even though Nigeria was eventually taken off PayPal’s blacklist in 2014, Ghana remains on the list to the frustration of Ghanaians who make regular online transactions.
In 2013 a group of Ghanaians petitioned PayPal to delist Ghana from countries who cannot use their system.
At the time, the GHIPSS Chief Executive Officer, Archie Hesse, advised Ghanaians to use local online payments systems and promote them so they can become globally accepted ways of payment for goods and services.
“What we are doing is that we want to enable payments and if the majority of the payment is made locally that is where we will concentrate on. However, we also have the responsibility to ensure that Ghanaians can purchase goods and services abroad. We also have the facility in that regard, so we have the visa and the mastercard who are still in existence in the country.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
