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GHANA:Banks, telcos asked to deploy digital financial service
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director, Mr Dominic Sam, has urged banks and telecom operators to deploy what he termed as ‘digital financial services’ to encourage savings and promote access to finance in the country.
He said digital financial services would improve access to financial services in the form of savings, credit, insurance and welfare payments.
Mr Sam made the call at a round-table discussion on the theme "Innovations for Last Mile Financial Inclusion through Digital Finance and Agency Banking in Ghana" organised by the UNDP and the United Nations Capital Development Fund ( UNCDF) in Accra. The UNCDF is the United Nations capital investment agency for the world's 48 least developed countries.
The roundtable discussion was to highlight the recent advances made in Ghana towards leveraging digital financial services to increase financial inclusion from the standpoint of regulators, financial service providers and mobile phone operators.
It was attended by representatives of the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, financial service providers and mobile phone operators.
Digital financial inclusion
Mr Sam said one of the important effects of digital financial inclusion was that the entire national financial system benefited, especially when promoted in the wider context of economic inclusion.
For instance, he said, it encouraged high savings pooled from the vast segment of the middle and low-income earners.
He said the savings resulted in expansion in credit and investment by banks.
"The walk to digital finance is irreversible and those service providers who lag behind are likely to be left out. Therefore, digital service providers who lag behind are likely to be left out," Mr Sam said.
He indicated that in today's world of growing technology and innovation, facilitating financial service could be enhanced "when service providers leverage the huge potential that information and communication technologies make available through a customer-centred approach and where the regulatory framework is conducive to foster competition and government policies are supportive".
Partnership
Mr Sam called for public-private partnerships to create the enabling environment for service providers to deliver high quality service to their beneficiaries on a win-win basis.
He affirmed the commitment of the UNDP and the UNCDF to continue to support efforts at promoting digital financial inclusion.
Other speakers
The Chief Executive Officer of Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans Limited, Mr Tony Fosu, said through the use of a digital technology in the "susu" collection scheme, the company was able to attract savings from 130,000 customers from the informal sector within two years.
He said savings from the customers, who saved between GHc1 and GH5 per day, amounted to GH¢17 million.
The Head of the MTN Mobile Money, Mr Eli Hini, said the mobile money transfer of the company had greately enhanced financial transaction in the country.
SOURCE:GRAPHIC ONLINE
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