Bawumia launches second phase of mobile money interoperability

Vice President, Mr. Mahamudu Bawumia, launched the second phase of the mobile money interoperability platform in Accra.

the The launch of phase two of the interoperability platform concludes the triangle of financial inclusion and guarantees universal interoperability, making Ghana one of the few countries in the world to have achieved this feat.

Useful links Ghana Politics | Ghana celebrity news | News in Ghana

The first phase of the project, launched on May 10, 2018, was the interconnection of mobile money platforms and the Ghana National Switch (ghlink), but not the E-zwich Payment systems. This allowed users to make payments from Mobile Money portfolios to bank accounts, and vice versa. It also allowed the transfer of funds between different mobile money services provided by the telecom companies.

The second phase completed the interconnection between Mobile Money and the e-mail.zwich Payment systems. Thus, the interconnection of mobile money and e-mailzwich platforms, at the ghOnline platform means that customers can easily transfer funds on all three platforms: bank accounts, mobile money portfolios and thezwich payment systems.

Useful links Ghana news | Ghana Business News | News in Ghana

Speaking at the launch ceremony on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, Vice President Bawumia said that this universal interoperability – known to players of the FinTech and banking circles as a triangle of financial inclusion, as it connects three payment platforms; mobile money, bank account and e-mailzwich – should remove the constraints encountered in trying to move funds, in real time.

"This should make us more efficient and allow us to accomplish more in the same time. All these important initiatives are in line with other government programs of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to accelerate the digitization of the economy.

"It is important that this enhances financial inclusion by bridging the gap between banks and non-banks. This will also allow free flow of funds between and among the three platforms; allowing banks and non-banks to interact at the same level. "

for the news of Ghana | Ghana Business News | News in Ghana

The benefits for ordinary businesses and Ghanaians will be enormous, with endless possibilities on the horizon, said Vice President Bawumia.

"The fast flow of funds made possible by the universal interoperability This should also translate into quick turnaround times for businesses, as producers, wholesalers and retailers can receive funds in real time to deliver products to customers, regardless of the region of the country in which they are located.

"The possibilities are enormous and I expect Fintech to take advantage of it and work with banks and other financial institutions to provide us with excellent products."

With the conclusion of phase two, Vice President Bawumia said that it was time to work on phase three.

"They say the best reward for a good job is more work. So let me again, in the spirit of transforming our economy, to engage the partners in this project to take on an additional challenge: call it. phase 3

"The phase 3 that I propose is the interoperability of operators / agents / mobile money traders. By this I mean that it should be possible for an operator, agent or merchant with only one phone and one SIM card to be able to load electronic funds into the customer's wallet, regardless of the network.

"An agent must currently keep different float accounts for each operator to serve their customers. Thus, when the agent's balance for a given operator is exhausted, the agent is not able to serve that operator's customers even though he may have electronic funds available unused on another network.

"So you see that agents are not refusing customers because they do not want to serve them, but they simply can not use the float that they have for a network operator.

"The status quo is not effective and affects both the production and profitability of the agent, while putting a damper on the cash-lite agenda. Leave me so ask you to work together to solve this problem, so that anyone who goes to an agent can get a service when electronic funds are available.

"I think it's a normal sequence of what we've achieved so far and I urge all key parties to ensure that we succeed in this success. as well, so that customers can have wider access to the mobile money service. "

Vice President Bawumia congratulated the board of directors and leaders of Ghana's financial technology (Fintech), telecommunication and all partners for their cooperation and contribution to the development of interoperability of money in Ghana.