All entities engaged in the provision of inward remittance services into Ghana are strictly prohibited from engaging in unfair market practices or anti-competitive behaviour.

This includes but is not limited to the payment of rebates, commissions, or preferential arrangements that confer undue advantage or distort market conditions.

According to the Bank of Ghana, such conduct is inconsistent with fair trade principles and will attract decisive regulatory action by the Bank of Ghana. These are corresponding sanctions and penalties under the relevant laws.

This was revealed in the Central Bank update guidelines for inward remittance services by payment service providers.

The objectives of the guidelines are to provide a framework to guide Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers  (DEMIs) and Enhanced Payment Service Providers (EPSPs) in partnering with MTOs to deliver inward remittance services to beneficiaries; b) stipulate the minimum standards and requirements for providing inward remittance services

These guidelines cover inward international remittance services provided by Payment Service Providers in partnership with MTOs that are terminated into beneficiaries’ bank accounts, mobile money wallets and any other electronic account or wallet approved by the Bank of Ghana, and apply to DEMIs and EPSPs.

Eligible Money Transfer Operators (MTOs)

The report said an EPSP or DEMI, which seeks to partner with an MTO for the provision of inward remittance services, and shall ensure that the partner MTO(s) are a registered entity and licensed by a competent authority in its country of registration to carry out international money transfer services.

where the MTO operates a remittance hub or aggregator model, an EPSP or DEMI shall terminate traffic only from the country where the MTO is licensed and the same has been submitted to and approved by the Bank of Ghana.

Settlement account

The guideline stressed that an EPSP or DEMI shall have a local designated account for remittance settlement domiciled with a universal bank(s) only; shall have up to a maximum of three partner banks for purposes of inward remittance terminations and should ensure that its partner MTOs credit the nostro account of the partner bank(s) directly for all remittances.

On the other hand, the Local Settlement Account shall only be funded from the Remittance Inflow account except where the EPSP or DEMI has entered into a funding arrangement with the settlement bank for disbursement to beneficiaries. The repayment of the facility shall be from the Local Settlement Account upon conversion by the partner bank