Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison has said the digitization of bank accounts has enabled customers to conduct financial services through online platforms in a seamless manner without stepping foot in the banking hall.
The positive aspect of these, he said, is the broad acceptability of these technology-driven financial services due to their convenience, efficiency, and affordability.
Governor Addison added that this has also instigated innovative digital financial products services by banks and financial technology firms, to further reinforce financial inclusion.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered digital banking, innovation & fintech festival on the theme “Regulation as an enabler for digitizing the financial sector” on Wednesday, November 3, he said “The current vibrant state of Ghana’s digital financial service ecosystem is a product of well-thought-out and carefully crafted reforms and policies, spearheaded by the Bank over the past two decades.
“After a series of strategic policy papers, the Bank of Ghana facilitated the passage of the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662), which provided the legal basis and regulatory anchor for the introduction of technology in the banking industry. With this Law, a real-time gross settlement system, which is the Ghana Interbank Settlement (GIS) system, was implemented.
“This infrastructure significantly improved the efficiency of wholesale and large-value interbank funds transfer and liquidity management.
“Subsequently, additional institutional reforms carried out in line with Act 662 paved the way to establish the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) in May 2007. Since then, GhIPSS has rapidly transformed the payment ecosystem through the implementation of interoperable interbank retail payment systems, including electronic cheque clearing, automated clearing house for direct debit and credit funds transfer, instant payment, gh-Link card, and mobile money interoperability.
“These systems, in addition to complementary systems by banks, have facilitated straight-through processing of payment transactions swiftly and efficiently with marginal errors relative to manual processes.
“The next step was to strengthen the regulatory frameworks so as to diffuse the benefits of the improved interbank systems to the wider society and tackle financial exclusion in a practical and affordable manner.
“This led to the issuance of Branchless Banking Guidelines (BBG) in 2008, which provided the regulatory support for mobile money through partnerships between banks and telecommunication companies.
“A further review of the BBG led to the Electronic Money issuers and Agents Guideline in 2015 to address some regulatory challenges and boost adoption of the mobile money concept. These regulatory changes provided the needed boost to the expansion of mobile money operations and set the stage for financial technology in Ghana.”