MTN MoMo @ 10: Stakeholders Meet On Sustaining Growth Of Mobile Financial Services

MTN Ghana has held its annual Mobile Money (Momo) Stakeholders Conference to discuss ways of sustaining the growth of financial services in the country.

This year’s edition of the program saw Ghana’s leading mobile network operator hosting the regulator of the mobile financial service, Bank of Ghana (BoG), together with banking and technological partners, as well as users of the service at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, August 7, 2019.

Speaking at the conference under the theme “The Role of Regulation in Sustaining the Growth of Mobile Financial Services in Ghana”, General Manager for Mobile Financial Services at MTN, Mr. Eli Hini highlighted some of the areas that need to be addressed to enhance the use of mobile money services in the country.

The main points he raised had to do with concerns relating to deposit protection, cybersecurity policies, partnerships, interest payment, agent management, maximum capital, wallet size and the introduction of additional taxes which the BoG is reportedly looking at introducing.

The Director of Research at the BoG, Mr. Philip Abradu-Otoo assured that his outfit will continue to collaborate with all mobile financial service operators in order to establish an inclusive and sustainable financial service industry in the country.

“The development of the payment systems is and will remain a collective responsibility including from all stakeholder. The Bank of Ghana will continue to create a safe and sound system payment environment for the expansion of the mobile financial services sector. This will serve our shared vision of establishing an inclusive and sustainable financial services industry in Ghana”, he said.

Mr. Abradu-Otoo added, “As the payment services continue to expand alongside the widespread emergence of technology-driven innovative financial product and services, the Bank of Ghana saw the need to further strengthen the regulatory and supervisory frameworks underpinning the payment system”.

“Subsequently, the various legal instruments governing the payment system were collated and reviewed and facilitated work towards the payment systems and service acts of 2019 Act 987 which the President ascended to in June this year. With the passage of this law, the regulatory framework has been enhanced and strengthened”.

The new Act will among many other things improve Mobile financial services in the country, ensure the security of users, foster competition in the electronic money business whiles promoting the availability and acceptance of electronic money and other forms of payment services in the retail business space.