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Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) will for the next two weeks visit the various Savings and Loans Companies to foster a closer working relationship with them. The move is a follow-up to a seminar organised by GhIPSS during which representatives of Savings and Loans Companies were informed about the completion of the extended National Switch and various products and services that can be developed out of it. Speaking in an interview, the General Manager of Project and Business Development at GhIPSS, Archie Hesse, said the interest that participants showed at the earlier seminar coupled with the feedback from the event prompted them to plan these individual visits. He explained that since the Savings and Loans Companies deal largely with the under-banked and the unbanked, it is imperative that they get to know how they can use the electronic platform and the various products to reach out to their target customers. The visit, which begins today (Monday), will be used to explain how the various products including e-zwich, Automated Clearing House (ACH) and Payment Distribution System (PDS) can be used to enhance the operations of Savings and Loans Companies. More importantly, the companies will be told how these products can be tailored to suit the individual companies or deployed uniquely in order to drive deposit mobilisation and also disburse loans. GhIPSS has agreed to provide switching services for interested Savings and Loans Company who might be too small to purchase their own switch. The interaction with the individual companies will therefore also afford both parties the opportunity to see how beneficial the switching service will be. A number of Micro Finance institutions have devised innovative ways of using e-zwich and PDS to make their operations very efficient, and also to provide financial services to their customers in areas where they do not have branch outlets. Mr. Hesse is very hopeful that after the interactions with the Savings and Loans Companies, a significant number of the under-banked and the unbanked will be roped into the banking system.