Although plastic has long been recognised as a non-biodegradable product and paper is viewed as more ecologically friendly, when it comes to financial matters, the former option has no doubt taken the lead.
You see, while in the past many people might have thought it best to walk around with loads of cash to undertake business transactions, it is becoming more feasible to use a debit or credit card to get the job done.
Having immediate cash is well and good and may allow for fast processing, but there are few things that can beat the safety of having a mere card, which not only requires a pin to be accessed, but can allow for quick action to intercept any unauthorised use.
Since taking office, the Government of the day has advocated for a move in this direction.
In fact, Minister of Public Telecommunication, Cathy Hughes, had deemed this approach as a crucial one. She had said, “My message to the whole of Guyana is to start thinking differently. We have to start embracing the use of plastic. We have to stop walking [around] with millions of dollars. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world and what we don’t realize is that there is a financial cost to operating a financial system so heavily dependent on cash.”
Here in Guyana, many people can appreciate the need for increased measures to ensure that people are safeguarded while doing financial transactions. This is in light of the fact that there have been many instances where persons attempting to do financial transactions have been attacked by rouge elements of society. Some of these attackers have even ended the lives of their victims as they relieved them of hard-earned cash.
While cards have been the redemption for the financial sector to some extent, there have been even more advancement that many have been gravitating towards.
Technology has made the use of money even more easier and safe too.
In addition to the online service offered by banks to pay bills and make purchases, there is even another technological advancement that is available to us right here in Guyana.
As such, carrying around sizeable amounts of cash in this day of major technological advancements should not even be an option, as the Minister suggested.
Banks, for some time now, have started to allow their customers to even transfer funds between accounts with the click of a computer mouse or by using a mobile device.
However, a service that is unique to Guyana and is gradually taking a hold in the Guyanese society is that of the GTT Mobile Money Guyana [MMG] application [APP].
This APP platform, which was introduced a few years ago by telephone giant GTT, is one that affords customers the ability to make purchases, pay bills and even buy and sell credit from their very mobile devices.
In addition to providing security for financial transactions, the APP is one intended to help reduce the long lines of people each month trying to make payments at various business enterprises.
But the APP is one that Guyanese were slow to embrace, with most expressing worry about the security of their finances.
Perhaps in recognition of the reservation of some individuals, GTT started off offering them bonus credit for paying their bills via the APP. Today, not only has GTT been able to get buy-in from a wide cross-section of companies to use its APP platform, but many customers have being opting to do their transactions via MMG.
The MMG service works simply by purchasing a deposit [a sum of cash] from a GTT office or MMG agent. The deposit purchased is then entered into a virtual wallet on your mobile device which can only be accessed by a pin created by the user.
In addition to paying all utility bills, the APP allows its user to pay hire purchase instalments at named companies, cable operators, the University of Guyana and other schools’ fees, rates and taxes to the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown [MCC], taxes to the Guyana Revenue Authority and even more recently, make payments to a car company.
Clearly, the MMG way of doing business has been catching on, so much so that GTT has decided to stop its bonus credit to customers for paying bills. This move suggests that the APP has been having the desired effect, that is, large numbers of people have been taking advantage of it. This means that paying all of your bills can be done at a time convenient to you, even in the comfort of your own home or pretty much wherever you have internet access.
Many persons who have been using the service have shared testimonials that the MMG service has helped in many ways to improve how business is done in Guyana.
This indeed is the way that the world is going, a direction that can ensure efficiency and personal security when doing business.
But just like the good and evil forces of nature, there might be some who are already scheming to infiltrate the system in a negative way. However, until then, we at Guyana Inc. Magazine endorse the use of the MMG service because it has been proven by many people to be a safe and very reliable service.
