LAUNCH OF
MOBILE MONEY INTEROPERABILITY PHASE II
SPEECH DELIVERED
BY
DR ERNEST Y. ADDISON
GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA
GHIPSS, ACCRA
NOVEMBER 28, 2018
His Excellency the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,
The Minister for Communications,
The Board and Management of GhIPSS,
CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications,
CEOs of Telcos and Financial Institutions,
Invited Guests, the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good Morning
1. It's an honour to witness the launch of the second phase of the
Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) project. This is undoubtedly
another major milestone in our quest to deepen financial
intermediation and inclusion; while digitizing the economy and
levelling the playing field for both the banked and unbanked.
2. As you will recall, the first phase of this project was launched in
May, 2018 with tremendous success. I must state that though
the significance of the project was not lost on us at the outset,
international commendation subsequent to the launch, has
underscored its uniqueness and novelty in the global payments
industry.
3. Before proceeding, let me acknowledge and thank His
Excellency, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
for the vision, unflinching support and dedication from the
conception of this homegrown project initiated by the Bank of
Ghana way back in 2007 to its full implementation today. Also, I
would thank the banks, mobile money operators and fintechs for
the strong collaboration with GhIPSS and the Bank of Ghana in
the execution of the project. The zeal and commitment exhibited
during the successful execution of this project is commendable
and signals good prospects for developing an inclusive, safe and
efficient payments ecosystem for the Ghanaian economy.
4. It is gratifying to note that the performance of the interoperability
platform since implementing the first phase has been impressive
based on the key pillars of CONVENIENCE, ACCESSIBILITY,
and Since then, total transaction value
VALUE FOR MONEY.
and volume has increased from GH¢8.3 million and 96,907
respectively in May 2018 to GH¢32.6 million and 319,094
respectively in September 2018, representing 292.8 percent and
229.3 percent growth in value and volume respectively. This
growth trend is expected to increase further when the second
phase becomes fully operational and other innovative products
and services become available.
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to inform you that at the
recent Annual Global Policy Forum of the Alliance for Financial
Inclusion (AFI) held in September 2018 at Sochi Russia, Ghana
won three (3) of the eight (8) awards, including the technology
award in recognition of the interoperability project. As a result of
these laudable achievements, we have hosted a number of
visitors from central banks on the African continent to understudy
the project design and implementation, with more visits
scheduled for next year.
6. His Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, with the completion of
the second phase of the interoperability project, Ghana has now
achieved its objective of establishing an integrated and
interoperable payments ecosystem. All the three (3) key national
payment circuits, namely; mobile money, e-zwich and gh-Link
are now interoperable, enabling seamless movement of funds
across these systems.
7. As we develop a digital financial ecosystem, the integrity of the
service delivery channels becomes paramount. Transmission
channels for electronic payments should guarantee security of
transactions. This can be achieved through adherence to
international best practices and standards in the acquisition,
deployment and management of channels. Consequently, the
Bank of Ghana has drafted Guidelines on Operations of
Electronic Payment Channels which will provide a framework for
management of an efficient and secure transmission of
electronic transactions across various payment channels. We
also must bear in mind issues regarding cyber security during
electronic transfers and ensure that the proper structures and
systems are in place to handle such threats.
8. With the implementation of the second phase of this
infrastructure, payment service providers would have the
opportunity to scale up access to financial services through
digital channels. However, a strict financially inclusive society
must ensure that financial products are accessible to meet the
needs of different categories of customers.
9. Currently, most of the digital financial products available in the
Ghanaian ecosystem are in the category of savings, payments,
investments and insurance. Credit products receive less
attention thereby limiting the capacity of the unbanked and
underserved to borrow for economic activities. A deliberate and
concerted effort to develop an electronic credit market is
therefore necessary to promote financial inclusiveness.
10. In this regard, the Bank is working with Financial Sector
Deepening (FSD) Africa to implement a credit market diagnostic
project. The project will assist in identifying constraints to credit
delivery and propose measures to overcome them. This will
complement efforts towards expanding the scope of financial
access to both the banked and unbanked in society.
His Excellency, as the sole regulator of the Mobile Money
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sector, the Central Bank will ensure that right things are done by
the various players in the sector. We will continue to regulate
and monitor activities within the space and ensure that all
participants play by the rules. The Bank of Ghana has a key
responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the financial system to
underscore the trust that is central to financial deepening and
development. It is therefore critical to ensure the confidentiality of
transactions, privacy of data collected by operators in this space
(including personal and financial data), the security of
transactions, and smooth operations of all stakeholders and
regulators providing complementary services in this space.
The interoperability that exist between e-zwich, bank
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accounts and mobile money wallets, offer participants an
endless opportunity to develop various value added services to
the public. Let me therefore challenge Fintechs to work closely
with banks, non-bank financial institutions and especially rural
and community banks to come out with several other products
and services that will further bring banking and financial
transactions closer to the public. I see endless opportunities with
this financial inclusion triangle and I hope the players also realise
the enormity of opportunities it presents.
13. To conclude, I wish to thank all stakeholders who in one
way or the other have helped in the full implementation of the
interoperability project and to say that the future of Ghana's
financial inclusiveness and cash-lite society is well within reach.
14. Thank you for the attention.