The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has received commendations from key players in the banking and digital financial services sector for his commitment and leadership in the implementation of GhanaPay, the world’s first bank-wide mobile money solution to achieve greater financial inclusion.
Speaking at the launch of Ghana Pay, the first bank-wide mobile money by universal banks, rural banks and savings and loans companies, on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, Mansah Nettey, President of the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) recalled a call issued by the Vice President last year for banks to work together and come up with products on a common platform that can gain universal acceptance and deepen financial inclusion.
“This morning’s event, the launch of GhanaPay, is, therefore, the fruit of a continuous seed of this clarion call for collaboration for many stakeholders, and I would want to commend the Vice President for providing leadership”, she emphasized.
The Ghana Pay service, which operates like the existing mobile money service, also has additional banking services and is open to everyone with access to a mobile phone, with or without a traditional bank account.
Ghana has thus become the first country in the world that has implemented a bank-wide mobile money service.
Also speaking at the launch, Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana praised the Vice President for taking particular interest in leading the digitalization agenda of the country.
This, he noted, was the best way to enhance growth and rapid development in the financial and banking sector of the country.
‘Let me specially thank the Vice President of the Republic for taking particular interest in the digitalization agenda of the country’’, Dr Addison stressed.
He also commended Dr Bawumia for the roles and contributions he continues to make in the quest to ensure the creation and sustenance of a robust financial sector, a prerequisite for development.
Archie Hesse, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Integrated Payments and Settlements System (GhIPPS) noted that Dr Bawumia has relentlessly championed the modernization of Ghana’s payment systems, from the roll-out of Mobile Money Interoperability, through the GhQR Code, and now a bank-wide mobile money system.
‘’Your quest to see the country’s economy digitalized in all forms is admirable, Mr Vice President, and I thank you for such effort and tenacity,” the GhIPPS boss said.
Addressing the audience, which included CEOs of Ghana’s leading banks and players in the financial sector, Vice President Bawumia expressed delight that the banks had taken up the challenge of reaching out to many unbanked in Ghana with easy-to-adopt products.
“It is heartwarming to know that the banking sector is increasingly looking for ways to extend financial inclusion to all Ghanaians. It is clear that the entire economy is being transformed to what I want to call from analogue to digital. The benefits of this transformation, which is literally sweeping across every sector of the economy, are enormous and we can readily see and experience some of the benefits,” he added.
“Let me, therefore, commend the Ghana Association of Banks, GhIPSS and all institutions that from the very beginning, believed in this vision and have supported it all through to this point.
“At the rate at which Ghana is adopting digitisation, it is clear that in the near future, almost every part of our lives will be driven by digitisation.”
While commending banks and other stakeholders for coming together to introduce the GhanaPay, Dr. Bawumia was optimistic greater financial inclusion will soon be achieved in the country through digital financial service.
“I am particularly excited that the banks have closed their ranks and come together to introduce a shared electronic wallet, which has been christened GhanaPay. I see this as a huge avenue for banks to rapidly bring more people into the banking space.”
“GhanaPay takes care of the bottlenecks associated with the opening of formal bank accounts, so the banks should be able to use the GhanaPay platform to massively reduce the traditionally unbanked population.”
“I know we can bring it (number of unbanked Ghanaians) down further and one of the channels to achieve this is through digital financing services; that is leveraging the increasing adoption and usage of the mobile wallet because of its ease of use.”
The GhanaPay, which is positioned between mobile money, offered by telcos and banking, offered by banks, can be downloaded on Google Play Store or on Apple Store.
Just like the existing mobile money services, the GhanaPay, once registered, can be used to send and receive money to and from mobile networks and bank accounts. It can also be used to cash in and cash out, buy airtime, data, and also pay for goods and services through a GhQR merchant.
By launching the GhanaPay mobile money service, Ghana has achieved another digital payment landmark by becoming the first country in the world to implement a bank-wide mobile money service.
