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As part of its continuous efforts to help address the challenges hampering digital payments in the country; MobileMoney Limited (MTN MoMo) has organized a MoMo Stakeholder Forum in Accra under the theme: “Addressing Barriers to Digital Payments Adoption in Ghana. “
Speaking at the event, the Head of Products and Services at MobileMoney Limited, Madam Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, said collaborative efforts are crucial when it comes to addressing the bottlenecks that confront the sector; hence there is the need to involve all relevant stakeholders.
“Partnership is central to any ecosystem, there have to be key players that are constantly collaborating not only in system integration because when it comes to system integration I think we doing fairly well there. But we need to find a bridge for the strategies so don’t have different agendas being pushed by different partners, so it has to be collective. Part of the reason for this forum is to have all of us in one space speaking the same language and forging ahead,” she explained.
According to her, to promote financial inclusion and further accelerate growth in digital payment platforms they also engage both the formal and informal sectors.
Additionally fostering growth in digital payments required a shared responsibility from various stakeholders in the financial space.
According to her, as part of its efforts to strengthen the payment ecosystem and also promote financial inclusion, MTN has made significant investments in the fight against Mobile Money (MoMo) fraud.
She therefore underscored the need for collaborative efforts to help address the rising Mobile Money (MoMo) fraud in the country since the fraudsters keep on changing their modus operandi.
The General Manager, of Cellulant Ghana Eric Kortey, touching on the issue of accessibility and smartphone penetration, noted that despite the significant progress in increasing access to digital financial services, a significant sectional of Ghanaians do not have access to or are unable to benefit from what is offered.
Adding that, digital payments mostly go hand in hand with smart devices; however, completely adopting digital payment with a feature phone poses a big challenge which serves as a barrier to the adoption of digital payments especially in rural and remote areas.
Hence, the people in rural areas stick to the traditional ways of accessing goods and services due to the absence of technological facilities and initiatives in these areas.
As a result of the lack of technology facilities and initiatives in these areas, people in rural areas rely on traditional ways of accessing goods and services.
According to him, expanding network coverage and developing infrastructure can enhance access to smartphones and dependable internet connectivity, making digital payment options more accessible to remote and unserved/underserved areas.
“Digital payment adoption in Ghana will be heavily boosted when transaction fees are tiered in favor of rural communities, with some services being completely free.
Aside from the convenience and ease of making payments, the ordinary Ghanaian looks at the cost of using that payment method.
It is becoming increasingly expensive to pay digitally and this is an area that Government and policymakers must really look at if we aim at growing adoption of digital payment.
Government instituting tax incentives for merchants and businesses that collect and pay digitally drive the adoption of digital payments in Ghana,” he explained.
However, he also underscores the need for Introducing temporary incentive programs, such as waived fees or rewards for using digital payment methods to encourage people to try them out.
More so, digital platforms or applications should be made robust to be able to withstand the pressure of high traffic while putting in measures to mitigate the rampant interruptions they experience.
Mr. Kwame Oppong, Head of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana, commended MobileMoney Limited (MTN MoMo) for its crucial role in promoting financial inclusion in the country.
He also emphasised the importance of establishing a solid data protection ecosystem to foster consumer trust also encourage them to continue using digital payment platforms.
However, he reiterated the Central Bank’s commitment to collaborating with all the relevant stakeholders to help address all the challenges that hinder digital payments in Ghana; stressing that regulations are being implemented to help achieve this feat.
MTN currently has five platforms, the Mobile Money platform which renders Fintech solutions; the Ayoba App which delivers digital services; Enterprise services that support business start-ups; Network services and the African API marketplace with products like e-health and e-commerce.
Source: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo/newsghana.com.gh
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