MTN Ghana Calls for the Review of Mobile Money Transaction Limit

MoMo Stakeholder Conference 2017
MoMo Stakeholder Conference 2017

Accra, August 10, 2017//-MTN Ghana has called on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to review upward the transaction limits of mobile money services in the country to speed up the country’s quest of becoming a cashless economy within the shortest possible time.

The last time the BoG reviewed the limit is over three years ago. It is therefore important for the central bank to increase the limits, the General Manager, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini said at this year’s Mobile Money Stakeholder Conference held in Accra on Wednesday.

Industry experts blamed the stifling growth of the mobile money market among others on the transaction limits.

The Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) guidelines issued by the BoG categorised customers e-money accounts into three groups which defined their maximum daily and monthly transaction limits.

Depending on which of the three categories a customer is placed in by the service provider, the daily transaction limit ranges from GH¢300 to GH¢5,000, with the monthly maximum transaction also ranging from GH¢3,000 to GH¢50,000.

Also, the guidelines indicated that the daily and monthly transaction limits of mobile money merchants as they stipulated an aggregate limit on cash-out and outbound payments of GH¢10,000 per day and GH¢100,000 monthly.

According to Mr Hini, customers had raised concerns about some of these transaction limits which MTN Ghana had initiated discussions with the BoG to get the transact limits increase.

But how much and where it will be increased to and when it will be reviewed depends largely on the BoG because it is a regulatory issue, he explained.

Growing mobile money transactions

Mobile money transactions are consistently growing as the total number of transactions keep increasing monthly. Latest figures from the BoG indicated that 21 million Ghanaians have mobile money accounts as against 11.4 million bank accounts.

Also, GH¢1.8 billion cash on mobile money float. The amount being in the wallets is available to the banks.

MTN Ghana alone, the value of transactions for MTN Mobile Money service alone has astronomically risen from about GH¢56 billion in 2016 to GH¢ 68.2 billion as of June, this year. While the total number of transactions stood at 485 million.

Mr Hini added that the service  has 6.2 million active mobile money users over the six-year period with 75,000 active merchants across the country.

He continued that MTN Mobile Money has played a major role in bridging the gap between the banked and the unbanked as it offers a wide range of services.

These, Mr Hini mentioned include MTN airtime top-up, international remittances, bill payment (such as DSTV, ECG Postpaid, MTN Postpaid, School fees), purchase and payment of insurance, payment of employee salaries, payment for goods and services (airline tickets, shopping etc.), card-less ATM withdrawal and Link to Bank Account (so that customers can move money from their bank account to their mobile money wallet and vice-versa).

According to him, the service through its16 partner banks are helping to develop innovative products including the Y’ello Save Account, T-Bill For all Service, the TAP To Pay Solution and LEAP payments, among other for the market.

The digital payment options, he noted are expected to leap economic transformation, adding that MTN  Ghana is doing everything possible to roll out more innovative products for Mobile Money users in the country.

MTN Mobile Money, being the first Mobile Money service in Ghana, is one of the main platforms driving the achievement of a cashless economy in the country, Senior Manager, Sustainability and Social Impact at MTN Ghana, Mrs Georgina Asare-Fiagbenu noted in her welcome address.

She added that MTN Mobile Money service provides customers with fast, simple, convenient, secure, innovative and affordable ways of transferring money and making payments.

Mrs Asare-Fiagbenu stressed: “The convenience and constant innovative services we provide on the mobile money platform over the years have received numerous awards; just last month we were adjudged Mobile Money Service Provider of the Year at the Ghana Information and Technology Awards for the second time running”.

Challenges to mobile money evolution

Activities of mobile money fraudsters are growing in the country.  But she assured MTN Mobile Money customers that the company is working assiduously to address situation.

To this end, Mrs Asare-Fiagbenu said that, “MTN in collaboration with the e-Crime Bureau has engaged media organisations and security personnel across the country in a series of workshops to support the fight against mobile money fraud and related cybercrime issues”.

The Head of Payment Systems at the Bank of Ghana, Dr Settor Amediku identified nontransferable fees, poor customer recourse, fictitious national ID cards, insufficient agent liquidity or float and complex and confusing menus as the major challenges to mobile money evolution in the country.

Addressing the challenges

He noted that in a bid to address the challenges of mobile money in the country, the Branchless Banking Guidelines was introduced in 2008 which led to the introduction of a model known as ‘Bank-led and many-to-many model.

Subsequently, the Electronic money issuers and agent guidelines was introduced in 2015 which allowed nonbanking entities to use mobile money payment platforms to channel funds to individuals and businesses.

Dr Amediku used the occasion to call for nationwide rollout of National Identification system which is expected to take off in November, this year.

It is one of the surest ways to speed up financial inclusion in the country. So, the central bank is lending its support to the upcoming national ID card rollout exercise, he added.

To make more people use mobile money, the Chief Officer of DreamOval Limited, DerryDeen Dadzie suggested that telcos should make on-boarding very simple and hassle-free.

African Eye Report

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