Online version of eCedi can be tested by Vodafone Cash users, CalBank and IT Consortium customers – BoG
Vodafone Cash users, customers of CalBank and IT Consortium have the opportunity to test the online version of the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eCedi.
This is per new information made available to norvanreports by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
According to the Central Bank, the opportunity to test the online version of the eCedi is however, restricted to Vodafone Cash users, customers of CalBank and IT Consortium in Accra and Tarkwa in the Western Region.
For the offline version of the eCedi which is currently being piloted in a small town called Sefwi Asafo in the Western North Region, the Central Bank asserts it is encouraged by the usage and uptake of the digital currency with select users in the said town using the eCedi for daily purchases such as food, grocery and drinks.
Speaking in an interview, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, has said feedback received from the piloting of the eCedi has been positive and encouraging.
According to the Governor, Ghanaians used in the piloting of the eCedi have expressed huge interest in the usage of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
“There has been a pilot carried out in different parts of the country and the feedback I have gotten is that people have been quite enthusiastic about having the opportunity to be part of the pilot and even gone out of their way to reload the CBDC using their own resources to be able to carry out transactions,” Dr Addison remarked.
Making the assertion, the Governor further remarked that the enthusiasm showed by Ghanaians in the pilot phase of the CBDC is a good sign and implies that the Central Bank can go ahead with a national rollout of the eCedi immediately after the pilot.
“The enthusiasm showed by Ghanaians is a good sign that by the end of the pilot we will be able to move on as planned,” he added.
Touching on the benefits of the eCedi to the Ghanaian economy, Dr Addison averred further financial inclusion and higher mobilisation of savings by Ghanaians are the main benefits to the eCedi rollout.
“Further financial inclusion is the main benefit for it (eCedi) as well as higher mobilisation of savings resources, hopefully that should help drive economic growth,” he stated.
BoG designs offline and online wallets for eCedi
The Central Bank, amid its pilot phase and subsequent rollout of the electronic cedi (eCedi), has created two wallets for the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The apex bank in its eCedi Design Paper report, asserts the two wallets created include Hosted Wallets which will be managed by the various financial institutions in the country and Hardware Wallets which are secure portable storage devices held by individuals.
According to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Hosted Wallets require access to the internet to be operational whereas Hardware Wallets work in offline mode.
“The most optimal form factor for the eCedi wallet is the app for a smartphone developed by commercial banks, FinTech companies, and other service providers. Other devices can be utilized depending on user preferences and payment scenarios. These could be smartcards (including the biometric ones) or wearables such as smart watches that contain communication capabilities and a secure element.
“Similarly, debit cards and USSD devices (feature phones) which are associated with the existing payment landscape in Ghana can be adapted for eCedi. Thus users can get the type of wallet that suits their needs from a bank or other financial service provider,” noted the Bank.
The BoG in the report further asserts that the eCedi will be a retail token-based CBDC. A retail token-based eCedi is a value based approach that implies an eCedi that represents a token, or a digital value note.
Payment is done by transferring the value note from one person to another. The concept is similar to cash payment transactions, where payment is done by transferring banknotes and/ or coins from person A to person B.
In brief, retail CBDC is digital cash that is designed to take on most traditional attributes of physical cash (in practice, though, it may have other additional functionalities depending on its final design).
Retail CBDC could be used by individuals for P2P transfers, and P2B, B2P, B2B, P2G, and G2P payments besides cash and existing payment media and instruments (e-money, payment cards, etc.)
