MTN promotes cashless Ghanaian economy with mobile money
MTN Ghana has reiterated its commitment to help promote the agenda of cashless society for the benefit of the country.
Cashless society is one in which the purchase of goods and services and payment of debts and remittances are done through electronic money media.
Mr Ebenezer Asante, Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN, said technology played a vital role in accelerating the process of cashless economy in developing countries such as Ghana.
He said the country already had some innovative products such as e-zwich smart card and ATM cards to support MTN Mobile Money to help drive home the benefits of cashless society.
Mr Asante was speaking at a roundtable to deliberate the prospects of a cashless Ghanaian economy with focus on structured programme to achieve the benefits of a cashless economy at the weekend in Accra.
Cashless society will help reduce the cost of printing currency notes, the risks of losing money through robbery, fire and flood, and ensure the convenience of paying bills and purchasing goods and services without physically being present.
Mr Asante said the introduction of MTN Mobile Money had transformed the way people handle their finances allowing people to transfer money, make purchase purchases and pay bills.
According to reports, about 2.5 billion people in the world are unbanked which 1.8 billion people have access to mobile phones.
“This growth combined with the ability to deliver financial services telephonically, now makes it possible to tap vast markets that bankers previously considered unprofitable”, he said.
He said MTN would capitalize on the over 20 million mobile users to increase its subscriber’s base, adding that the MTN Mobile Money had been able to provide customers with immediate access to banking services through their mobile phones recording about 9.5 million transactions totaling over GH¢113 million within two years.
He said MTN Mobile Money provided access to banking services to millions of Ghanaians who were unbanked to help improve the banking culture of both urban and rural populations.
Mr Asante said many MTN Mobile phone subscribers had e-wallets where monies were kept and saved to create a money saving habit amongst subscribers and for economic growth.
In addition, he said, the service provided a platform which allowed a mobile money subscriber to link their bank accounts to mobile wallets and also provided customers in partnership with banks such as Ecobank, Fidelity, Stanbic, Zenith, CAL Bank, Merchant Bank, Access Bank, UBA and ADB.
To achieve a cashless society, Mr Asante called on government and stakeholders to focus on policies, infrastructure, security and cultural resistance and education to allow fast, safe and convenient transactions.
He assured MTN’s commitment to continue to invest towards promoting cashless society to make it acceptable and trusted nationwide.
Source: GNA