The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has given another impetus for mobile money services in the country to boom following its approval and announcement of two new regulatory guidelines.
The Central Bank released the “E-money Issuers Guidelines” and “Agent Guidelines” to create an enabling regulatory environment for convenient, efficient and safe non-cash retail payments and transfer of funds.
The BoG published the Guidelines on its website on July 6 2015, to replace the earlier guidelines for Branchless Banking.
The number of mobile money transactions in Ghana grew from 30 million in 2012 to 106 million by December 2014. The value of these transactions was GH¢171 million in 2012, GH¢2.4 billion in 2013 and GH¢11.6 billion in 2014 according to the BoG.
With the new guidelines, both the number and value of transactions are set to multiply, analysts believe.
The new Guidelines will facilitate the expansion of financial services to include millions of Ghanaians who hitherto didn’t have a bank account. It will also help to capture financial transactions within the informal sector.
Currently, only MTN, TiGO and Airtel offer mobile money services, and industry insiders expect other mobile operators, particularly Vodafone to join the fray.
Indeed, Vodafone is almost ready to start a mobile money service, and it is expected to launch the service on the back of the new guidelines.
One of the major differences between the old and new Guidelines is that Mobile Operators will require a license to become dedicated e-money issuers (DEMIs).
DEMIs will own and manage electronic money business using retail outlets and agents as a channel for delivery of financial services to extend the coverage of their services and will be supervised by the Bank of Ghana.
Over seven years since the launch of the earlier guidelines, there has been limited interest from the commercial banks. The banks have thus far remained passive partners to an almost all Mobile Operator Network - led deployment industry.
The Central Bank’s wide stakeholder consultation approach, has been applauded by Industry analysts including CGAP, a civil society organization that advocates to advance financial inclusion, to ensure the proposed regulations were comprehensive and conformed to international best practices.
The new Guidelines were developed with key stakeholders including the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (mobile operators), the banks, payment service providers and other prospective electronic money issuers.
Latest Stories
-
Amazon Web Services and AmaliTech collaborate to train more than 5,000 people in cloud computing in Ghana
10 mins -
Inflation to decline to 24.6% in April 2024 – Report
16 mins -
Dancehall Queen Aklerh thrills patrons at EP listening
20 mins -
Bond market: Total turnover upturned to GH¢1.14bn
28 mins -
Stanbic offers financial solutions to members of Ghana Medical Association
39 mins -
“Dmusor” has brought businesses to their knees – GNCCI expresses frustration at ongoing crisis
45 mins -
Ghana’s electricity access likely to increase as World Bank begins initiative
46 mins -
We need a comprehensive data on the culture and creative sector– GCF to Egyapa Mercer
53 mins -
Veil on asset declaration should be lifted – Osafo-Maafo
1 hour -
I have been paid with malt drink and meat pie after performing – Kofi Sarpong
1 hour -
Child mortality drops to 32% nationwide in 2024 – Patrick Kuma-Aboagye
2 hours -
Cedi to bounce back to appreciating trajectory soon – Fitch Solutions
2 hours -
Dumsor: Finance ministry failed to pay power generators over GH₵1.2 billion under the CWM – PURC report
2 hours -
Toddler mauled by dog undergoes successful plastic surgery
2 hours -
Pepsodent champions with #TalkToADentist initiative at World Oral Health Day 2024
2 hours