GHANA:BoG to release new guidelines on mobile financial services

The Bank of Ghana is to soon come out with revised regulations on Ghana’s mobile financial service sector.

It follows what the central bank views as the significant contribution of the current Electronic Money Issuers Guidelines passed in 2015. According to the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiamah, the revised rules will attract more customers unto the various platforms as critical concerns will be equally considered and adequately addressed.

“This impressive performance is attributed to the passage of the Electronic Money Issuers Guidelines by the Bank of Ghana, which has created an enabling environment for digital financial services,” the Second Deputy Governor noted. “Accordingly, it has engendered great interest of banks and non-bank institutions in the digital financial space.

We are currently reviewing the law even further and we will soon come out with a new law in that regard,” he further intimated. Figures released by the Bank of Ghana show that total volume of mobile money transactions increased by over a hundred percent from 2015 to the end of July this year.

The figure increased from 132,579,112 to 265,214,110 between the period. Similarly, the value of transactions also increased by almost 119 percent from 16.943 billion cedis in 2015 to 37.068 billion cedis in July 2016. Correspondingly, the total value of float at end of July 2016 is reported to be GH?703.64 million compared with GH?363.65 million in July 2015.

Dr. Asiamah made the revelation at the launch of a new Bank Direct system by Express Pay in Accra. Meanwhile in a speech read on his behalf, Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur urged for stricter compliance to minimize the instances of cyber attacks on transactions.

According to him, Ghana risks losing out on the gains made in the mobile financial space if such systems are not put in place. “We must however remember that technology-driven payment products are prone to cyber-attacks and such incidents of attacks on financial service providers are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

As a result, I want to urge financial technology firms to work with financial institutions to deploy security analytics with threat intelligence capabilities to assist in preventing cyber threats to financial infrastructures.” “The gains made in digital finance would be eroded if we do not ward off fraud from digital finance,” Mr. Amissah Arthur added.

The Bank Direct is an innovative product by expressPay that enables Visa cardholders to instantly send and receive money into their bank accounts. Through this service, Visa cardholders can send and receive money instantly with just their Visa card and mobile phone.

Bank Direct is powered by Visa Incorporated and works in collaboration with the commercial banks in Ghana. Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Henry Oroh assured of the readiness of his outfit to roll onto the platform as it seeks to reduce transaction time for its customers.

“Particularly because technology is changing everyday and in our competitive industry, we cannot afford to leave any stone unturned. Zenith Bank therefore continues to develop and enhance its product and service offering to satisfy the ever changing and growing needs of today’s customers.”

SOURCE:GHANAWEB