Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President, has reaffirmed demands for financial sector stakeholders to offer innovative approaches to bring the unbanked into the digital payments ecosystem.
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, gave the keynote presentation at the introduction of “Ghana Pay,” a shared electronic wallet solution, noting that it is crucial to the government’s economic reform strategy.
“Banks can use the functionality provided by the GhanaPay wallet to give a wide range of tailored banking and wallet services to consumers that they previously couldn’t reach.” “The ability to provide customers with a combination of banking and traditional mobile money services empowers them to do more,” he explained.
GhanaPay, according to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, “complements the initiatives to speed Ghana’s migration to electronic payments.” As a result, he is pushing the banking sector to unite and continue to look for new and innovative ways to improve the payments ecosystem’s efficiency.
“The emergence of innovative banking business models, as well as partnerships with financial technology (FinTech) companies in the provision of payment-related services, have all contributed to closing the financial inclusion gap.” Beyond the opportunity to compete directly on product offerings and service quality, the bank-FinTech collaboration would aid in the achievement of common goals and enable participants to achieve economies of scale in payment network expansion, as well as reach a critical mass of financial inclusion in the country.
This relationship is good, and it should be continued because payments are a necessary activity for both businesses and individuals. “Improving financial transaction efficiency through electronic payments would enhance production while lowering expenses,” he said.
The expansion of mobile financial services is a crucial strategy to financial inclusion. This offers a new viewpoint on digital transformation and highlights how technology may aid in the modernization of the financial system and the promotion of greater financial inclusion.
With the launch of mobile money service platforms in Ghana, the financial sector has undergone tremendous transformation. Over time, the business has evolved from a simple money transfer service to include a variety of other financial services such as payments, savings, and even loans.
For example, GhIPSS Instant Pay transactions increased from 420,000 in 2016 to 31.4 billion in 2021 in less than a decade.
Both the volume of mobile money transactions and the number of registered mobile money agents surged thirteen and fourfold in 2021, respectively. Another significant trend was that Ghana’s cash usage, as measured by currency in circulation as a percentage of GDP, fell from 6.8% in 2016 to 4.7 percent in 2021.
Furthermore, Ghana’s cheque usage per capita has decreased from 25.67 percent in 2016 to 18.9 percent in 2021.
Despite this, stakeholders in the financial sector are working hard to enhance financial inclusion and consolidate recent achievements.
GhanaPay is a mobile money service platform for people and businesses supplied by universal banks, rural banks, and savings and loans firms.
Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) and the Ghana Association of Banks collaborated on the project.
GhanaPay is a mobile money provider with extra banking services for financial independence.
Anyone with a mobile phone, whether or not they have a bank account, can sign up for the GhanaPay wallet. In addition to existing mobile money services, GhanaPay users have limitless access to banking services. It is part of the government’s National Financial Inclusion Agenda, which aims to minimize economic vulnerability and improve collaboration between banks and GhIPSS (Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited).
