Telecommunications giant, MTN Ghana has announced that more than 5 million active subscribers are currently registered on its MTN Mobile Money service this year as against over 4.8 million last year.
While over 18.5 million volumes of transactions are recorded through the network’s mobile money service in a month as against more than five million in 2015.
These came to light at the launch of MTN Mobile Money Month held at Rawlings Park, ‘Makola’, a business hub in Accra.
These figures, the website learnt, are higher than the monthly transactions of some of the commercial banks operating in the country.
Some industry watchers say that the growth of mobile money services threatens microfinance firms and the banks as well.
However, the General Manager, Mobile Financial Services at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini argued: “The growth of Mobile Money rather complements the business of microfinance/banks because it provides tools/solutions to enhance their offerings/services”.
“Customers are now able to receive their loan disbursements into their Mobile Money wallets wherever they are and are able to make loan repayments without visiting the branch”, he added.
Touching on the MTN Mobile Money month, Mr Hini said: “For the past five years we have dedicated the month of August to promote the use of mobile money and the benefits it brings to individuals and businesses, whether large or small. So, especially in the year we are celebrating 20 years of MTN’s operations in Ghana, I am very excited to be part of the launch of MTN Mobile Money Month celebration”.
The celebration of Mobile Money month has been a great success for many reasons; it gives managers of the leading telecom services provider dedicated time to consider the benefits of the service, emphasise its relevance and explain its features.
“It also provides an opportunity to for us to go into more communities to engage and solicit feedback. These engagements have been useful and have helped in driving the general understanding and usage of Mobile Money in Ghana”, Mr Hini told participants the well-attended launch.
He recounted that last year the company launched Mobile Money month here at the Rawlings Park and had a great time with the market people and shoppers in the locality. We are sure we will have a good time here once again, Mr Hini stated.
He emphasised that in an effort to bring mobile money services to the doorsteps of subscribers, the mobile operator had had partnered a number of local banks including Access Bank, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Cal Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity, GT Bank, Universal Merchant Bank, Stanbic, UBA and Zenith.
MTN Ghana, which is the largest telecom network, is available across Ghana in all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and key villages and towns in the country, so as the mobile money or mobile banking platform. It is available in all the over 77 MTN service centres and over46,000 mobile money merchants doted across the country.
Also, “the service enables MTN Mobile Money customers with the help of partners like Lyca, WorldRemit and Xpress Money and several others to receive money from abroad instantly on their phones. Ghanaians in UK, Australia, Switzerland, Qatar, etc are able to send money to their relatives and friends via the service”, he stated.
MTN Mobile Money users can pay their DSTV and ECG bills and school fees, purchase airline tickets, as well as pay for goods purchased at Melcom Plus, Max Mart and other online shops.
Mr Hini attributed the meteoric rise of mobile money services in the country to change customer behaviour, sustained education on mobile money services and strong stakeholders’ support.
In his own words: “Customer behaviour has changed and we are seeing the usage of more advanced services such as bill payments, salary payments, school fees payment, payment of goods and services and several others. Today, you can see shops that have displayed Mobile Money stickers to indicate their acceptance of Mobile Money as a payment method; “taxi drivers also accept Mobile Money. This means that very soon it will be possible to come to town and shop without carrying physical cash”.
Taking small a bite on this year’s Mobile Money Month celebration which is under the theme: ‘Let’s go cashless with MTN Mobile Money, supported by an enabling regulatory environment’, Mr Hini observed: “With the improved usage of the service we decided to revisit the “cashless” society agenda which was the theme for the Mobile Money month in 2012.
“As a growing economy we must develop a structured programme to achieve the benefits of a cashless or cashlite economy, as the benefits are huge”.
Some of these benefits he mentioned include reduction in the cost of currency printing, lower risks for individuals and banks associated with transporting currency notes, and increased service options for consumers.
With a mobile money service which is growing, “we can make a good case for Ghana to drive the digital agenda within the framework of the law. This is where our regulators come in. We need the regulatory bodies to provide the necessary policies that will promote the use of Mobile money and thereby make the cashless economy agenda a reality”.
On mobile money fraud, the General Manager, Mobile Financial Services at MTN Ghana assured that there are aware of the concerns people have about Mobile Money fraud.
“These are issues we must address together, and that is ongoing. We must continue with education and we must all take care to protect our mobile money pin codes amongst other things”.
Mr Hini therefore reiterated that MTN Ghana’s Mobile Money service is safe and efficient, stressing: “The service operations have been upgraded and it is the only Mobile Money service set-up in Ghana to have attained the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification”.
“As the leader in Ghana’s Mobile Money and telecommunications sector, MTN Ghana is committed to taking bold steps to ensure that Ghana goes Cashless with Mobile Money”. Join the Mobile Money wherever you go; it is convenient, it is secure”, he emphasised.
As MTN celebrates 20 years of operating in Ghana’s mobile communications industry, the country is at a critical stage of its Mobile Financial Services journey, particularly with regards to regulation.
All stakeholders including MTN Ghana have a role in ensuring that the steady growth of the industry is maintained, and a key catalyst for maintaining that growth is ensuring an enabling regulatory environment that supports the increasing synergies between the Banking and Mobile Financial Services industries.
“We therefore look forward to seeing the involvement of all our key players in this year’s celebration”, Mr Hini stated that the event which was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Ebenezer Asante and other key executives of the company.
Outlining the number of activities to mark the mobile month, the Mobile Money Business Development Manager at MTN Ghana, Abdul Rufai Majeed mentioned a stakeholder conference, inter tertiary institutions debate in partnership with National Union of Ghana (NUGS), consumer promotions, market activations and merchant fora as well as fraud awareness training for merchants.
These activities, according to him, would take place across MTN Ghana’s three Business districts of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
In addition to these, MTN Mobile Money Partner Banks will launch their own interesting initiatives to excite customers who transact with them throughout the month.
African Eye Report
