Ghana is seriously deepening its policy of financial inclusion via mobile money with glaring indications of emerging West Africa’s digital economy champions ahead of Nigeria.
First successful move to this mission in Ghana is the official position of government to allow telecoms drive the its mobile money platforms unlike in Nigeria where it was in the hands of banks and special purpose vehicles
In continuation of driving home the policy, all is set for the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to launch mobile money interoperability on Thursday, May 10, 2018.
In an interview, the Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, said the first phase, which was the mobile money interoperability, would go live next week Thursday, May 10, while the other two legs of the Financial Inclusion Triangle will follow.
According to him, this will allow movement of funds from bank accounts to mobile money wallet and to e-zwich cards seamlessly.
He averred that the launch, in collaboration with GhIPSS, Telcos and financial institutions, is expected to excite the financial sector.
The move by the Ghana Interbank Payment and settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Telcos and banks, was in response to a challenge thrown by the Vice President Bawumia, last year, for a mobile money interoperability to become a reality in Ghana.
Industry analysts in Ghana had observed that at the beginning that while the original plan was to ensure that mobile money transfers and transactions were possible across the various Telcos, what is being worked on goes far beyond that.
Analysts say the launch will come as a major relief as sending money across networks has been a major challenge to many since the effective take off of the scheme in Ghana.
Business Hilights Ghana Bureau chief gathered that the mobile money interoperability is, however, only the first phase of a bigger project that will ensure that the public can also transfer funds from their bank accounts to mobile money networks as well as to e-zwich cards and vice versa in what is being termed the Financial Inclusion Triangle.
Ahead of Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Telecoms, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey is already upbeat about the eventual linkage among the three major platforms namely bank accounts, mobile money and e-zwich, saying the seamless movement of funds across the various platforms should quicken business delivery.
As a way of raising awareness on the interoperability switch on, Ashigbey has called on businesses and MDAs to realign their systems such that the public will be able to make payments using the various channels instead of cash.
Ghana Chamber of Telecoms boss averred that “Increased Government-To-People and People-To-Government payments should be pushed further as the next frontier in the digitisation and economy formalisation agenda.
To him, “Ghana, over the past decade, has been making frantic efforts at modernising the payment system through the establishment of GhIPSS as the institution leading the agenda”.
Before now, GhIPSS, together with financial institutions, has introduced and operationalised electronic payments channels such as e-zwich and Automated Clearing House, which have both Direct Credit and Direct Debit.
Cheques are now cleared electronically while there is gh-link interbank switching platform to make Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point-of-Sales devices interoperable and accessible by different bank cards.
Latest additions to the electronic payment channels are the Instant Pay and the e-bills pay that enable funds to be transferred across banks instantly.
Observers say Ghana can make significant savings with the launch of the mobile money interoperability and even save a lot more when the financial inclusion triangle is fully in place.
This is stemming from the strong assumption that more people will join the bandwagon of electronic payment options.
Experts believe that with effective takeoff of mobile money, less currency notes will not only be used in circulation but government will only spend less in maintaining, replacing and destroying worn out currency notes.
Financial inclusion experts say quick movement of funds across different platforms can also stimulate economic growth. It is also expected to make payments or movement of funds quick, secure and convenient.
