MTN CASHLESS ECONOMY SERIES HELD

An indigenous Telecommunication Network firm in Ghana as part of its cashless economy series Technology is helping to accelerate the process of a cashless economy and cashlite economy, particularly in the so-called informal financial system in Ghana and the developing world at large,Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN Ghana,Mr.Ebenezer Asante has hinted.

Mr Asante stressing that the ideal form of a cashless society was one in which the purchase of goods and services and the payment of debts and remittances were done through the electronic money media, via credit and debit cards, direct transfers from one account to another, smart cards mobile payment systems and other technologies.

Speaking at a Roundtable discussion in Accra, yesterday, on the theme: “Towards building a cashless economy in Ghana—Prospects, challenges and the way forward”, Mr Asante noted that Mobile Money services had transformed the way in which people handled their finances by making purchases and paying bills just with a few strokes on their mobile phones.

He said some of the products which supported Ghana's march towards a cashless economy included the E-zwich smart card, ATM cards and mobile money services such as the MTN Mobile Money and its peers on the market.

Mr.Asante enumerated some of the benefits of a cashless economy as reduction in the cost of printing currency notes, replacing them and transporting cash along the value chain from the Central Banks to businesses and consumers as well as the reduction in the risks associated with the transportation of currency notes, including robbery and loss from fire or flood, among others.

To add, a cashless economy promoted business and economic growth, enhanced individual business and national productivity, with a positive impact on job creation and its attendant multi-sectoral multiplier effects”he lamente.

The Imani Ghana vice Presideent Mr.kofi Bentil in his presentation,called for a truly robust system that was tried and tested and should not require registration if it should be patronized by the illiterate segment of the population, noting that the E-zwich had failed or was failing.

For his part, Mr Peter Zetterly, Country Representative of the Consultative Group Assisting the Poor (CGAP), said a fully cashless society would take time to achieve, noting that not a single country in the world had yet eliminated cash in the doing of business.

MTN Ghana introduced Mobile Money into Ghana in July 2009.The service provides customers with immediate access to banking services through their mobile phones.

In 2012, 13.5 million transactions totaling over GH₵300 million, representing more than 265 per cent growth in the value transacted, has been recorded.

According to a research report by Aite Group, mobile payments will reach US$214 million in gross dollar volume in 2015, up from 16 US$16 billion in 2010, representing a 68 per cent compound annual growth.

MTN Mobile Money service offers subscribers many convenient and safe services including the ability to purchase MTN airtime, transfer money to any part of Ghana that has network coverage, pay bills and make bulk payments to many people spatially at the click of a button,

Meanwhile through MTN Mobile Money service, subscribers can also purchase micro insurance (Mi Life Insurance) and pay for micro investment products, shop online (airline tickets, shops, restaurants, etc.), have digital access to their salaries and loans and make tuition payments has been reliable for his subscribers.