IBM recommends mobile payment systems for Accra residents

Technology company, IBM says it has made recommendations to help the country’s capital, Accra to maximize income from city services and one of the recommendations urges city authorities to make use of new technology to enable residents to pay for services using the mobile phone.

In a press release issued August 2, 2012 and copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, IBM says its team of specialists have announced the comprehensive set of recommendations to the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) to help the city of Accra boost its income from city services.

Earlier this year, Accra applied for, and won, a Smarter Cities Challenge grant from IBM, which sent some of its top employees to work and live in Accra for three weeks. At the end of their engagement, the team delivered a workable blueprint to city authorities that will enable more efficient revenue management, it says.

According to IBM the team’s recommendations aim to supplement the city’s existing revenue collection initiatives through the innovative use of technology, which will streamline processes and harmonize operations across city departments.

The IBM team the release said, advised that Accra implement a multi channel, automated direct payment system that would leverage new relationships with mobile service providers and banks to allow citizens a wider variety of payment touch-points that would guarantee direct payments to city authorities.

“Through their mobile phones, Accra residents could pay for services from the city ranging from garbage collection to parking fees. The payment
system would also create opportunities to use analytics to identify underpayment and fraud, which currently see the city lose up to 50% of its
potential income,” it says.

The IBM team also recommended that the city leverage Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies to effectively map and monitor
Accra’s rapid urban growth in real time, the release noted.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi