MTN partners government to accelerate cash-lite economy

At a media and stakeholder engagement in Sunyani, MTN Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to driving Ghana's transition to a cash-lite economy by expanding digital financial services, strengthening security measures and deepening financial inclusion across the country.

The engagement brought together journalists and stakeholders from the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions to discuss the impact of MTN Mobile Money (MoMo), emerging digital payment solutions and the company's contribution to national economic development.

Speaking at the session, the Mobile Money Channel Development Manager, Mr. David Nana Addai, said Mobile Money had evolved beyond a simple money transfer service into a platform that supports virtually every sector of the economy.

Impactful journey
"The biggest impact is that today everybody has a MoMo story to tell. Beyond that, we've touched every segment of the economy," he said.

According to him, the Mobile Money ecosystem has become a major source of employment, with about 350,000 registered agents and nearly 300,000 merchants nationwide supporting millions of daily transactions.

Mr. Addai noted that the platform also makes significant contributions to national revenue through taxes while providing digital payment solutions that reduce the country's dependence on cash.

Cash-lite economy
He said MTN was working closely with government to build a cash-lite economy where individuals, businesses and public institutions could transact seamlessly without relying on physical cash.

"We have tasked ourselves to help build a cash-lite economy. We're partnering government to get rid of cash and all the issues associated with handling cash, so that people can make payments to the state, organisations or individuals across platforms without resorting to physical cash," he stated.

As part of efforts to deepen financial inclusion, Mr. Addai said MTN FinTech was also providing capacity-building programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them leverage digital payment technologies to grow their businesses.

"With FinTech now standing alone and with our mandate, we're deepening financial inclusion. I will say the sky is the limit," he added.

Security
Touching on the security of the Mobile Money platform, Mr. Addai said MTN continued to invest heavily in fraud prevention by strengthening platform resilience and staying ahead of fraudsters through proactive security measures.

He explained that users of the MoMo App benefit from biometric authentication, while customers linking their bank accounts to their Mobile Money wallets are protected by an additional one-time password (OTP) verification layer during transactions.

Mr. Addai encouraged customers to download and actively use the MoMo App, describing it as a secure platform with several value-added services designed to enhance customer experience.

He also highlighted MTN's "Ride in MoMo" initiative, which seeks to promote cashless payments within Ghana's transport sector, further advancing the country's digital payments agenda.

The engagement formed part of MTN Ghana's broader stakeholder outreach to promote digital financial services, improve public understanding of Mobile Money and support Ghana's vision of a more inclusive, secure and cash-lite economy.