Onafriq, Africa’s leading digital payments network, and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) have launched a test phase for a new cross-border payment service in Ghana.
The test phase means they've started with outbound transactions which marks the operational debut of their partnership in 2022. The partnership is aimed at boosting intra-African trade and financial inclusion.
The testing phase of the cross-border payment was approved by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), and it's scheduled to run for six months, enabling Ghanaian to send and receive money to mobile wallets and bank accounts across Africa in their local currencies.
So, banks, mobile money operators, fintech companies, and Onafriq’s partners and agent networks connected to PAPSS in Ghana can now facilitate direct transfers to mobile wallets or bank accounts across African borders.
The purpose of launching this service is that it'll help retailers and SMEs to carry out cheap and transparent financial transactions. As we all know that cross-border transactions in Africa mostly incur for high fees and often lack transparency, the pilot phase will help identify where the service needs improvement before rolling it out to other African markets.
How Onafriq and PAPSS's Cross-Border Remittance Pilot Works
The remittance pilot phase is a six month initiative that works by allowing financial companies and Onafriq's partners connected to PAPSS to send and receive cross border payment directly into their bank accounts or mobile wallets.
In the period of that six months, both Onafriq and PAPSS will be able to evaluate adoption, transaction flow, and FX performance which are essential factors to refine the service for broader expansion across the African continent.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) acts as an intermediary and settlement bank that facilities the cross-border payment in and out of Ghana. The bank ensures that the transaction is secure and is timely delivered.
