In monitoring global trends, research has shown that globally the number of adults who have accounts through either a financial institution or mobile money increased from 62% to 69% between 2014 and 2017. In sub-Saharan Africa it increased from 54%to 63% within the same period. General Manager Mobile Money Financial Services of MTN, Eli Hini disclosed at the launch of 2018 Mobile Money Month addressing market women at Kasoa.
Speaking on the theme for the Mobile Money month in August, Digitizing Payments in GhanaThe Role of Mobile Money, Mr. Hini said “We chose to focus on digital payments because of the potential it has to help drive financial inclusion and push us to another level in driving the cashless economy agenda”. As “MTN started discussions on using mobile money to drive the cashless agenda in Ghanas economy a few years back. We facilitated the public discussions and in so doing realized that there was the need for more education to allow people to familiarize themselves with the technology before going completely cashless”. He also said the Mobile Money month extends beyond August till September.
The General Manager of MTN Mobile Money Financial Services further stated that it is important to take a second look at the mode of payments in Ghana as there are a lot of payments mode in this country.
MTNs mode of payment varies from government to people, businesses to people and vice versa. “It is about time that all forms of payments are digitized to enable us reap the benefits as a country”. Digitized payments will go a long way to benefit the individual, institutions and the economy in general. It will help for easy tracking of revenues made by institutions (big or small), reduce corruption, save money used in printing currency and improve overall efficiency in doing business.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hini said he is excited that Government has taken steps to make all of its payments electronical according to vice President Dr. Bawumia, and for MTN, this is a welcoming news. MTN is positioned well in the mobile financial service sector and invested in technology to make the vision possible. With over 9 million active subscribers, 100,000 agents, over 50,000 merchants across the country and 17 partner banks, MTN is well positioned to lead to the cashless economic agenda through digital payments in Ghana, Mr. Hini said.
Following the issuance of the E-Money Issuers Guidelines, the Bank of Ghana approved for payment of interest to Mobile Money (MoMo) subscribers in September 2016, Mr. Hini said, MTN has made quarterly interest payments to all active MoMo subscribers. A total of GH₵98.9 million has been paid to customers as of the end of July 2018.
MTN pledges to engage the Mobile Money agents, merchants and our partners in activities meant to intensify the education and awareness on digital payments.
Hence to create the habit in making all forms of payments through mobile money. He also highlighted on some of the benefits of MTN MoMo Month such as: saves hustle of printing of currency, prevents reliance on holding too much of cash, helps in easy tracking of revenue, and also help to achieve paperless system.
The General Manager of MTN Mobile Money Financial Services reassured market women and the people of the vicinity at Kasoa that MTN MoMo is safe, secure and certified. He advice customers on the golden rules that is, not to entertain phone calls, SMS, and Promo calls from fraudsters. In addition he urged subscribers not to share their pin code with others including merchants as long as MTN has smarter ways of engaging their customers. Promotional activities including phones, plasma TV, Facebook quizzes and live sessions for customers to win amazing prizes.
With the MTNs mobile money digital system in place, Mr Hini said “We have also introduced payment options which is user friendly. We make mention of the Near Field Contact (NFC) which we call the MoMo Tap to Pay Service, QR Code option which we call Scan to Pay and the wallet payment options. Apart from all these payment options, MTN has a number of companies who receive their payments on our platform including, DSTV, ECG, GWCL, Star Times and host of others.
To further expand the platform for digital payments in all aspects of our daily business transactions. If all government payments will be made through electronic means, we can expand this further by making the payment of all goods and services via MTN MoMo. We want a situation whereby all forms of payment is made via mobile money”. Mr. Hini said.
In attendance were market women who express their joy of joining the world of digitization through MoMo as some of them registered on the spot? Aside the presence of the market women and some executives from MTN and Partner Banks, Queen Mother’s Market Women Association came in their numbers.
Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines in an interview after the launch, Mr Hini said, although there is already tax on the services of MoMo, an additional tax will be raise as other activities scheduled for the month include a stakeholder forum where discussions will be made on the implications of additional taxes on MoMo transactions.
2018 has seen remarkable innovations with regards to mobile money operations in Ghana. In addition to the mobile money interoperability launched in May of this year by government, MTNs MoMo month is on the right track in transforming Ghana into a cashless economy.
Schroeder Prince and Gabriel Odonkor
