The geometric surge in uptake of cross network mobile money transactions in Ghana since the launch of Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) in May this year, has shown that use of digital payment platforms is rising in the economy more than others in West Africa in the last quarter.
Findings from other countries in the region and Nigeria in particular show that apathy to electronic payments is driven by fears of fraud, networks delays in concluding transactions, cyber cloning of payment fake alerts and endless resolution of complaints by people who transacted payment using digital means.
Statistics released by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), after four months of launch show that payments for 12 percent of products and services offered within the period were paid using MMI.
Business Hilights Ghana Bureau chief reports that GhIPSS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana, mandated to migrate Ghana into an electronic payment society.
The platform has been introducing a number of electronic payment products and services since its establishment over a decade ago, in order to make those payment channels available to the public through financial institutions.
GhIPSS 2018 Quarter 3 report shows that whereas MMI accounted for only three percent in two months (May to June), it has jumped significantly to 12 percent by the end of the third quarter, according to the GhIPSS 2018 Quarter 3 report.
Already, MMI has out staged ACH Direct Debit, gh-link transactions as well as GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP), although all these other products continue to experience increase in the volume of transactions. Electronic clearing of cheques, e-zwich and ACH Direct Credit transactions, however, remain the products with the biggest share.
Further investigations revealed that a number of financial institutions are riding on the MMI to create microfinance products while some Fintech companies are devising quicker ways of paying for goods using mobile money. These avenues and others are contributing to the growth in cross network mobile money transactions.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, the growth in MMI transactions shows that there is greater appetite for electronic payments in the country when compared with others in the region.
