Vodafone predicts bullish future for Mobile money

Vodafone Ghana is excited about the rate of progression of its mobile money platform – Vodafone Cash. Introduced in December last year, the service has shown the kind of resilience and efficiency that is symptomatic of its parent technological system – M-Pesa.
With a few services on the platform at the time of commencement, Vodafone Cash now boasts of services such as ATM-cardless withdrawals, TV license payments, bulk payment services and insurance for fisherfolks.
Ghana’s financial services sector is still a long way off in reaching majority of the non-bankable population; hence, the activities of mobile money are seen as a way of moving this population into mainstream financial services. The Vodafone Cash proposition has undoubtedly commenced another phase of growth and maturity for Vodafone Ghana and Head of the service, Martison Obeng-Agyei sees a future of tremendous growth ahead:
“What we have seen in less than a year of operating the mobile money service is proof of its power to transform the entire country. We want to be integral in the promotion of a cashlite society in Ghana and bridge the gap between the included and excluded in our society. This is part of an overall strategic focus of digitally leaving noone behind in Ghana. We are confident that going forward, we will become very significant in this space in the country.”
Meanwhile, Vodafone has paid close to GHS1m as interest payments to customers over the past three quarters of this year. This follows the introduction of new guidelines on Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers (DEMI) from the Central Bank, which directs banks to pay interest on floats from mobile money platforms to telecom companies, out of which 80% is mandated as interest payment to mobile money customers. The telecommunications giant witnessed a 75 per cent increase in Q3 payments over Q2 – a development which reflects the significance of the trust reposed in the company by customers who have increased their deposits and transactions.