Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

Experts have called on the fintech industry to invest in compliance, especially ensuring adequate adherence to anti-money laundering rules and other relevant regulations. This call was made when the Ghana Fintech and Payments Association, in partnership with the e-Crime Bureau, organised a highly informative session on strategies for Fintech actors to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) rules. During this forum, the presenters took participants through some vital discussions and shed more light on issues in the fintech ecosystem pertaining to compliance and anti-money laundering issues in Ghana and on the international stage.  The event was attended by participants from banks, microfinance institutions, fintech startups and companies, tech law firms and the business community. Martin Kwame Awagah, President of the Ghana Fintech and Payments Association, moderated the session which saw a tech innovations consultant and scrum-master, Dr. Kwami Ahiabenu II of Global Centre

Mobile money is now the most preferred digital means of payment in Ghana. The simplicity of mobile money services is one of the reasons for its popularity. Anyone with any type of phone can consume mobile money services by registering a mobile wallet, which serves as a store of value. Mobile money users can also send and receive money, make payments and consume myriad services including insurance, pensions and loans from the mobile phone. Mobile money service is organised around several players, namely the money phone provider, typically Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) who are licensed as Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) by the Bank of Ghana. MTN Ghana, Airtel Tigo and Vodafone Ghana are all MNOs offering mobile money services. Furthermore, Ghana Pay is offered by a consortium of banks in Ghana, while G-money is a service by GCB Bank, and Zeepay, a Fintech company. These six companies are serving over 27 million registered mobile money accounts, with MTN holding the title of market lead