Retail financial transactions is expected to relegate cheque transactions to the background in the not too distant future as mobile money transactions again surpassed cheque transactions by a whopping ¢374.8bn in the first six months of this year, data from the Bank of Ghana has revealed.

This is against ¢232 billion in the first four months of this year and ¢389bn in the full year 2020.

If the trend continues, the full year 2021 transactions could exceed ¢600 billion.

It is therefore not surprising that the Central Bank is introducing the e-Cedi at this time to boost the cash lite agenda.

According to the figures from the Bank of Ghana, the value of mobile money transactions in January 2021, February 2021, March 2021, April 2021, May 2021 and June 2021 were estimated at ¢67.1 billion, ¢67.9 billion, ¢82.3 billion, ¢83.8 billion, ¢86.5 and ¢89.1 billion respectively. Indeed, the month of June 2021 registered the highest value of mobile money transactions.

That of cheque transactions were ¢17.0 billion, ¢15.5 billion, ¢18.3 billion, ¢17.5 billion, ¢15.7 billion and ¢17.9 billion in January 2021, February 2021, March 2021, April 2021, May 2021 and June 2021 respectively. The month of March 2021 also recorded the highest value of cheque transaction of ¢18.3 billion.

Now, the significant use of mobile money for financial transactions indicates that gradually a time will come – whether sooner or later – that many Ghanaians or retail consumers will largely prefer using their mobile money accounts for deposits or funds transfer than resorting to the banking system.

This should alert the banks to re-strategize in order to position themselves well to benefit from the share of mobile money before losing out entirely to the telecom firms significant use of the mobile banking for financial transactions.

Failure to do so will mean losing out on huge revenue as there are more than 18.3 active mobile money users as of June 2021.

Though some banks have application systems that incorporate mobile money, the electronic platforms are virtually unknown because of lack of marketing or positioning or differentiation strategies.

Going forward, cheque transactions will become the primary mode of transactions for largely wholesale or corporate consumers who have no choice but to issue cheques for payments because of the large chunk of the money involved in transactions.

Mobile money transactions exceeded cheques by ¢232bn in four months

Mobile money transactions exceeded cheque transactions by ¢232 billion in just four months of 2021.

According to the data from the Bank of Ghana, the value of mobile money transactions in January, February, March and April 2021 were estimated at GH¢67.1 billion, GH¢67.9 billion, GH¢82.3 billion and GH¢83.8 billion respectively.

That of cheque transactions were GH¢17.0 billion, GH¢15.5 billion, GH¢18.3 billion and GH¢17.5 billion in January, February, March and April 2021 respectively.