Kasoa, CR, Ghana, August 2, 2018//-MTN Ghana has called on stakeholders of the country’s digital financial services industry to work together to ensure that all forms of payments are digitized.
The move according to the leading telecom service provider that operates the MTN Mobile Money platform would enable individuals and institutions reap the benefits of digital payments in the West African second largest economy.
The General Manager of Mobile Financial Services at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini who made the call at the launch of this Mobile Money Month at Kasoa in the Central Region, explained: “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”, he added.
Mr Hini continued: ” it is important to take a second look at the mode of payments in Ghana. There are a lot of payments made in this country for various reasons”. We have payment 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”, he maintained.
His call comes at the time when the government has taken steps to make all of its payments electronically.
” For us as MTN, this is welcoming news because we have positioned ourselves well in the mobile financial services sector and invested in technology that will make all of these possible.
With our over 9 million active subscriber’s,100,000 agents, over 50,000 merchants across the country and 17 partner banks we are well positioned to lead to the digital agenda for all forms of payments in Ghana”, Mr Hini said.
The company has also introduced payment options which are 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 examples being, DSTV, ECG, Ghana Water, Star Times and host of others”, he noted at the launch.
“We can further expand the platform for digital payments to all aspects of our daily 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 used the occasion to again urge all to keep money on their mobile money (MoMo) wallets and to use it in their day to day payment activities.
Following the issuance of the E-Money Issuers Guidelines, the Bank of Ghana approved the payment of interest to Mobile Money subscribers in September 2016, MTN has made quarterly interest payments to all active MoMo subscribers. A total of GH₵98.9 million has been paid to customers as at the end of July 2018.
“When you receive any form of payment, there will be no need to cash out your money because, the seamstress, the barber, the ‘trotro-mate’, the tomato seller, the plumber, the mason and all others now understand the concept and most of them are willing to receive payments through MoMo”, Mr Hini acknowledged.
“We believe that with digital payments through MoMo, we will be gradually increasing financial inclusion and ultimately have a cashless economy”.
Mr Hini assured the customers that MTN Mobile Money is safe and secure and it is also ISO certified, so their wallets are protected.
This year’s Mobile Money Month celebration is under the theme: ‘Digitizing Payments in Ghana – The Role of Mobile Money’. The company 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.
MTN according to Mr Hini started discussions on using mobile money to drive the cashless agenda in Ghana’s 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”.
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 62percent to 69 per cent between 2014 and 2017.
In sub-Saharan Africa it increased from 54 percent to 63 percent within the same period. In Ghana today, mobile money has become a household name and it’s accepted by almost all persons, from traders to SMEs to corporate organizations.
The recent progress has been driven generally by digital payments, a new generation of financial services accessed through mobile phones and the internet.
As the company begins the mobile money month activities, it is running promotions for its customers to win interesting prizes.
Other activities scheduled for the month include a stakeholder forum where they will be discussing ‘The Implications of Additional Taxes on Mobile Money Transactions’.
The company will also be engaging the Mobile Money agents, merchants and its partners in activities meant to intensify the education and awareness on digital payments.
For the past seven years, MTN Ghana has dedicated the month of August to Mobile Money to create awareness about the service and highlight its importance of creating a cashless economy.
The month-long campaign is also expected to deepen awareness of the benefits of the MTN Mobile Money service.
African Eye Report
