Mobile money transactions policy in the offing

The Ghana Telecoms Chamber  is currently collaborating with the  Bank of Ghana to develop a policy guideline which is aimed at regulating Mobile Money transactions in the wake of attacks on vendors.

CEO of the Chamber Ken Ashigbey says they have been engaging various other stakeholders to develop a policy guideline which will look into the establishment of mobile money centres in the country.

There’s been a widespread attack on mobile money vendors in the country, with a recent case being a vendor who was shot and killed last week at Asylum Down in Accra.

“There is quite a lot of education that has gone on with the agents in terms of how they need to protect themselves and not risk their lives and property.

“Following the meeting with the police, we also had a meeting with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) where all the stakeholders were brought together to look at the issue of security of the operators,” he said.

According to him, there have been plans to introduce insurance for the vendors so they do not lose their money when they are attacked. To this end, he said some insurance companies have also been engaged.

He said it is not an issue limited to the mobile money vendors but a general security issue that everyone must be concerned about.

Commenting on the development, the President of the Mobile Money Advocacy group, Nyarkoa Boaitey Addo  said armed persons have attacked mobile money vendors almost on a daily basis. 

“The vendors choose not to report some of the incidents because they do not get the needed assistance from the security services.

“We constantly advise our members to take some personal security measures so they protect themselves and their money,” she said.

According to her, the advice is helping some of the members who are adhering to the advice like closing early enough before it gets dark.

“Ideally, 5 pm is enough but some work as late as 10 pm and even as late as 12 midnight. We tell them not to keep bulk cash with them but most of them fail to liaise with the banks so they keep less cash with them,” she added.