Mobile telecoms giant MTN says the Bank of Ghana (BoG) should review the current guidelines for Electronic Money Transaction only if it will drive the growth of the industry.

Some industry players have called for a review of the guidelines to effectively manage fraud and money laundering among others.

Speaking at this year’s MTN Mobile Money Month, General Manager in charge of Mobile Financial Service Eli Hini however, cautioned against any review that could stifle innovation in the industry.

"As we have tended to work on these guidelines, we have, however, seen a lot of push backs and instead of allowing the guidelines to work there are already calls for a revision of the guidelines. 

He is hopeful that the review will be done in a positive light as "because we believe that whatever we are seeking to do should make the guidelines better instead of stifling the opportunities and growth."

"All over the world, the service has service tend to thrive on innovations that provide a wide range of products and services that drive adoption. Innovation is at the forefront of service development and so it is important that whatever we do by way of regulation we take that into consideration," he noted.

This is to ensure that Ghana sees a thriving industry adding that, "we do not just want us to have enabling regulation but also have proper controls so that we can have the right level of compliance in the delivery of the service."  

Group Head of Personal Banking at Access Bank Stephen Abban also asked banks to configure their ATMs to enable customers to deposit cash into their wallets as against the sole reliance on agents.

"Why can't we come up with solutions, work with the telecos and deploy solutions on the intelligent ATM's? I believe the other stakeholders will have to look at it " he noted. 

He said government and other policy makers will have to give incentives to encourage the banks and the telcos so that we can work together to develop some of these important innovations if the destination is actually cashless.  

This year’s MTN Mobile Money Month was marked under the theme: Let’s go Cashless with Mobile Money, Supported by an Enabling Regulatory Environment.