A proposal to introduce mobile banking (M-Banking) here was one of the ideas discussed yesterday when businesspersons and bankers renewed a commitment to pursuing non-cash financial transactions, in the light of increased armed attacks on persons.
The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Guyana Bankers’ Association (GBA) made the pledge at a forum held yesterday at the Georgetown Club, at which the several services available at banks including the point-of-sale, e-banking and payroll systems were plugged. Businesspersons were also asked to promote the use of these services among their customers. The increased use of internet banking and the possible introduction of mobile banking were also highlighted as potential solutions to the problem.
Yesterday’s meeting, a collaboration between the two entities, was described as ‘A Stakeholders Forum on Alternative Payment Methods’. Several representatives from various banking and other corporate institutions were present.
Chandradat Chintamani, President of the GCCI, said the meeting was held to promote using means other than cash to conduct financial transactions. This, he said, was in the light of the recent increase in attacks by criminal elements on persons who had just completed withdrawals from banks. Some of the attacks he mentioned had fatal consequences.
Chairman of the GBA, Edwin Gooding, who is also Managing Director of Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd, lamented that many of the banking services offered to the general public were not being properly utilised. He said these services included the point-of-sales system, certified cheques, night bag and the payroll bank services. Gooding urged businesses to embrace these alternatives and to move away from the rigid cash culture, which has gripped the country. He also mentioned that the telephone banking system, which can be used to pay various utility bills, is not being adequately used.
In response to a query, Gooding also said that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been approached by the GBA, concerning the possibility of introducing mobile banking locally. Stabroek News understands that M-banking, allows people to do banking transactions on their mobile (cellular) phones without making a call, using the SMS (text-messaging) facility. With M-banking, the customer’s banking transaction shows up on his/her mobile phone screen, as opposed to hearing a voice on the phone. According to information received, a similar venture was recently started in Jamaica through a similar initiative by the IDB.
Some members of the audience raised the concern that many citizens are not aware of the many services available and how to use them. Consequently, they urged the banks to dedicate a greater effort towards educating the populace about these alternative means of completing financial transactions.
Meanwhile, during the course of discussions, the increased use of internet banking (e banking) was also advocated. So far, only Demerara Bank of the local banking institutions has introduced e-banking .However, according to Gooding, Republic Bank is expected to follow this path shortly.
Some representatives from corporate companies also expressed the view that the point-of-sale and other systems were too expensive to implement. As such, many businesses preferred to stick to the traditional cash transactions. In response, Gooding said the banks needed to a make a profit from the system.
He also said that the local banks are currently working towards having a single point-of-sale machine, which would be able to process all the cards from the various banks. Under the current system, each point-of-sale machine is bank specific.
It was suggested that the increased use of cheques would be a way to counteract the problem of the excessive use of cash by businesses. However, several members of the audience highlighted the difficulties posed by this. Some said that not enough measures were in place to deal with persons who attempted to conduct illegal contractions. Another concern was raised about the length of time it took to process cheques locally. It takes at least three days to clear a cheque.
While Gooding said he recognised that the use of cheques was a practical way of counteracting the cash deals, he admitted that it was always a risky transaction. And although he said that there was technology available to speed up the time it took to process cheques, he stated that not enough business was done locally to warrant the installation of such equipment.
