Banks to soon launch ‘bank-wide MoMo wallet’
Banks in the country are to be making preparations towards the launch of a ‘bank-wide mobile money wallet’ next month – December 2021.
The ‘bank-wide mobile money wallet’ when launched is expected to be made available to both customers and non-customers of banks through a mobile app.
Making the disclosure at Ashesi University, the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, noted the mobile app will be similar to other mobile money apps from Vodafone, Airtel TiGo and MTN.
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“You will be able to move money from any bank or momo account into this wallet and you can also generate your personal QR code from this bank-wide app.
“I think this will bring about a healthy competition between the mobile money service providers and the banks which should result in lower charges for money transfers,” the Vice President stated speaking on digitalisation and the government’s Digital Agenda.
This comes at a time that the Central Bank is piloting a digital currency the E-Cedi, one that a banking survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Ghana, has revealed that banks in the country are mostly upbeat about the introduction of the e-Cedi into the economy by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). Over 70% of bank executives interviewed in the survey expressed the opinion that the use of the e-Cedi will become prominent among Ghanaians – as was the case of mobile money (MoMo) – in the next three to five years.
The bank executives however, noted that, the general acceptance of the digital currency will be based on good user experience.
“User experience will be at the core of product acceptance among the public and drive its demand, use, and penetration [sic],” said the report.
Quizzed about the expected impact, 95% of the banking executives surveyed agree that the digital currency would impact the banking sector and the wider economy positively through a deepening of financial inclusion, providing additional thrust for the country’s digitisation agenda, and improving execution of monetary policy via enhanced control over money supply.
A good number of bank executives noted that they expect the introduction of the e-Cedi to facilitate low transaction costs, improved security of payments, and higher monetary transaction limits.
Again, 85% of executives participating in the survey emphasised that the Bank of Ghana must ensure that the principles of confidentiality, data privacy and security are incorporated in the design of the e-Cedi to help build trust and thereby encourage uptake of the digital currency, when it is launched.
Also, 60% of bank executives are of the view that the role that the Central Bank plays in the e-Cedi project will determine – in a significant way – the success or otherwise of the e-Cedi.
Notwithstanding the general sense of excitement, from survey responses, the report said the industry also has some apprehension about the e-Cedi project.
Importantly, 85% of bank executives would like to engage further with Bank of Ghana in order to better understand the proposed digital currency and its associated infrastructural requirements.
They noted that there is currently insufficient clarity around legislation/ regulations, technical and funding support that would be availed, and the role expected of banks in the currency’s deployment.
This makes them uneasy about any potential demands that the central bank will place on them when it launches the e-Cedi. They also assert that they are unsure if their current technology infrastructure would support the deployment of the e-Cedi.
