Accra, Ghana, August 28, 2019//-Ghana has recorded its highest value of mobile money transactions since 2015.
The country’s total value of mobile money transactions increased to GH¢223.21 billion in 2018 from GH¢155.84 billion in 2017, according to the latest report released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
The transactions rose by 43.22 percent, as revealed by the Annual Payment Systems Oversight Report 2018 issued by the Payment Systems Department of the BoG in Accra.
Similarly, the total float balance grew by 13.5 per cent to GH¢2.63 billion.
The report attributed growth in the value of mobile money transactions to global digital payments and deployment of alternative payment solutions increased during the year, on account of shifts in consumer preferences, technological innovations, increasing global interconnectedness, and changes to the regulatory environment.
“During the review year, banks faced increasing competition as activities of non-bank payment service providers intensified. Fintechs, in particular, gained prominence during the year as they capitalised on the use of Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)”.
Relying on Open APIs, Fintechs reduced development costs and improved the time-to-market and flexibility of payment products. Banks responded to these competitive pressures from non-bank players by enhancing digital payments through investments in technology.
Regulatory reforms to provide enabling environment for digital payments continued in many countries. In some jurisdictions, policies were adopted to nurture innovations through the implementation of regulatory sandboxes. In addition, cyber security directives were issued by some countries including Ghana, to promote innovation without risking financial stability.
It added that digital payment transactions continued to increase during the review year. Mobile phone-based payments and card transactions increased significantly over the period, with China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa registering significant growth.
Not all innovations in the digital payment space were driven by banks. The emergence of Open APIs, for example, made it easier for customers to use third-party payment providers in payment applications, the report said.
QR codes were also promoted, in 2018, as an affordable alternative to Point of Sale (POS) devices. This was to encourage merchant acceptance of electronic payments, particularly among small and medium size enterprises.
African Eye Report
