…BoG tells MoMo stakeholders
By Cecil MENSAH
The lack of a National Identification system has been identified as one of the key factors hampering financial inclusion in the country.
It is in this vein the central bank has called on the telecommunications companies and financial institutions to support the activities of the National Identification Authority (NIA) to fully implement the National Identification system by the month of September this year.
According to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), a total financial inclusion can be achieved if the NIA rolls out the much awaited National Identification system.
He said the National Identification system was key to driving reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
He revealed that a report at the central bank indicates that about 21 million Ghanaians are registered onto various Mobile Money platforms in the country.
He said in all 20 million are active on the various Mobile Money platforms and customers are doing various transactions like payment for insurance, taxi fares, food and doing investments.
Dr. Settor Amediku, Head of Payments at Bank of Ghana, made this admission at the Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Mobile Money Month (MoMo) stakeholders’ meeting held in Accra last Thursday.
He took the opportunity to call on all sector players to support the efforts of the government to make the exercise achievable in the country.
He said without it the efforts of the central bank to ensure financial inclusion will be a mirage as it has always been in the sector over the years.
He said the activities of Mobile Money have revolutionized the financial sector but the non-transparent fees charged by operators are fast hindering mobile money payments.
According to him, customer fraud and poor registration of SIM card is also a bother to the sector.
He reminded the operators to also abide by the Data Protection Act to ensure security in the sector.
He stated that government has embraced the challenges of financial inclusion and working hard with the introduction of measures to ensure financial inclusion and a cash lite society.
He was hopeful that the Payment System Bill currently at the Attorney-General’s office will make Mobile Money payments strife in the country.
He noted that it is the hope of the central bank that in the next twenty years Ghanaians will be able to use Mobile Money for the payment of all goods and services.
Mr. Eli Hnni, Head of MTN Mobile Money Limited, said half a billion people across the world transact business with mobile money.
According to him, 43 million transactions are processed a day meaning that more and more people are using the platform for the payment of their bills.
Writer’s Email: cecilm@businessdayghana.com
