MTN Ghana has announced that it is ready to pay interest on mobile money wallet holders on its network if the Bank of Ghana (BoG) gives the telecom giant the green-light to do so.
The company which has more than 5 million active subscribers currently registered on its MTN Mobile Money service this year as against over 4.8 million last year said it is more than willing to pay the interest.
The General Manager, Mobile Financial Services at MTN Ghana, Eli Hini disclosed at this year’s MTN Mobile Money Stakeholders Conference held in Accra.
The conference formed part of activities lined-up for the month-long celebration of the annual MTN Mobile Money month which takes place August every year.
Taking 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 called for the need for the right regulation supported by stakeholders including telcos and banks to speed up the growth of the mobile money services sector.
Mr Hini noted that there is the need, however, for regulatory bodies to provide the necessary policies that would promote the use of mobile money and thereby make the cashless economy agenda a reality.
He noted that mobile money creates an open and level playing field to foster competition among service providers, attract investors and allow providers to refine measure of their services, however irresponsible regulatory framework has had an adverse effect on the service.
Mr Hini 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.
He was emphatic that; “As a growing economy, we must develop a structured programme to achieve the benefit of a cashless economy as the benefits are huge”.
In order to have a cashless society, as a country, all adults must have a mobile phone, all mobile phone users must have mobile money accounts, mobile money must become the commonest medium of transacting, and must be accepted by all players, the Group Head, Personal Banking, Access Bank Ghana, Stephen Abban suggested.
To achieve this, he believes there is the need to grow the subscriber base, integrate the mobile money wallet onto Sim cards, and banks and stakeholders must continue to offer mobile money as default product or services.
“We have to increase utilisation and activation, where banks need to come out with a lot more initiatives to bring on board lots of people, increase accessibility to E – money, and issue out mobile money scratch cards.”
Although Mr Abban was impressive with the lots of strives that have been made over the years, a lot more needs to be done. He therefore called on stakeholders to develop a national cashless strategic plan to clearly define the cashless society and develop appropriate frameworks to getting there.
The Country Manager, CGAP, Madam Buddy Buruku, who was among the four panelists who discussed the theme noted that financial inclusion is moving at fast pace and mobile money has contributed immensely to that.
She stated: “With 16.4 million mobile money accounts in Ghana, representing 65 per cent of mobile money accounts, Ghana is closer to attaining a cashless society in the near future.”
According to him, although the future looks positive for Ghana, few issues need to be addressed since Ghana has a good standing in relation to policy regulation.
The Deputy Head of Payments at the Bank of Ghana, Mrs Clarissa Kudowor, said: “As a regulator, we will continue to dialogue with the telcos and banks to enhance the growth of mobile money payment” in the country.
African Eye Report