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Clara B. Arthur
Chief Executive
Ghana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems (GhIPSS)
Clara B. Arthur is the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS). She brings over 20 years of experience across banking, fintech, and national payment infrastructure. As CEO, she leads Ghanaʼs national payment system infrastructure, overseeing initiatives that strengthen interoperability, expand digital payment adoption, and advance financial inclusion. Prior to her appointment as CEO, she worked as a digital financial services consultant with global development institutions, including CGAP and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), advising on payment market infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and remittance-linked inclusion strategies. Clara previously served as General Manager for Projects and Business Development at GhIPSS from 2015 to 2019. In that role, she led the implementation of key national payment initiatives, including GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP), the gh-link domestic card scheme EMV migration, Ghanaʼs mobile money interoperability platform and the expansion of the e-zwich agent network. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership positions at Fidelity Bank Ghana and at eProcess International, the technology subsidiary of Ecobank Group, where she led digital banking projects, card system deployments, and regional switch integrations across multiple African markets.
Clara holds an MSc in Finance and Administration from the University of West London (UK) and a BA in Law and History from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana). She has been recognized among the Top 100 Women in Fintech in Africa.
Speaking At
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4:15–5:45pmMon 16 NovPublic-Private RoundtableRoundtable Room 4Open
Global Frameworks and Shared Best Practices in Payments Chains
Rethinking Instant Payment Infrastructure from the Ground Up
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Clara B. ArthurChief ExecutiveGhana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems (GhIPSS)
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Julie GuettaManaging DirectorThitsaWorks
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Kosta PericDeputy Director, Inclusive Financial SystemsGates Foundation
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Steve HaleyGlobal Director, Mojaloop EcosystemMojaloop Foundation
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Pat PatelChief Executive Officer, USA, LATAM, Middle East & Africa; Co-CEO, GFTN ConnectionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
Most conversations about improving instant payment systems focus on iteration: faster rails, lower costs, broader interoperability. This roundtable asks a more foundational question: are there aspects of how these systems are typically architected that are worth revisiting at the root, rather than only refining at the edges?
Many systems today rely on a model where a payment is sent, and if something doesn’t match up, the two sides exchange after-the-fact messages to reconcile what happened. This reconciliation-heavy approach carries real ongoing cost, and emerging approaches, including early pilot evidence, suggest that dependence on it can be reduced through pre-validation, where payment data is checked and verified before a transaction is executed. Such design choices made early in a scheme’s architecture can shape how easily it extends to full inclusion later.
This session aims to bring together development institutions, instant payments players, central banks, and relevant voices to discuss whether the iterative path – where systems are made incrementally better over time – or the fundamental path – where systems are rebuilt from the ground up – is a more viable solution for national payments systems looking to embark on pre-validation.
The roundtable aims to produce a practical roadmap for countries looking to implement prevalidation across financial institutions. Where available, early pilot data will serve as evidence, discussed frankly under the Chatham House Rule.
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