MTN has to be commended for the extension of the fee waiver on Mobile Money (MoMo) on-net transfers up to GHC100 daily till Sept 30, 2020. The extension gives opportunity to MoMo customers to continue sending money transfer value up to GHS100 daily to MoMo wallets for free.
Eli Hini, General Manager for MobileMoney Limited, has noted that the MoMo waivers have contributed significantly to deepening financial inclusion.
The waiver on MoMo transactions was first implemented on March 20 as part of efforts to support Government’s intervention to control the spread of the COVID-19 through the adoption of MoMo for financial transactions and to minimize the risk posed by cash handling.
As the COVID-19 case count appears to spiral, the extension of the waiver on MoMo transactions will go some way to provide the needed relief to many households since it is both convenient and deepens financial inclusion.
MTN, however has made it clear that transactions on interoperability will attract normal charges.
The World Bank has shown that financial inclusion in the country is being and will be largely driven by mobile money platforms rather than banks. A lot more people are using mobile money platforms and other non-bank financial institutions to access financial services, such as paying bills, sending and receiving money among others, rather than the traditional method of using banks.
Banks, on the other hand, have recently contributed the least to increasing financial inclusion across the country, as a result of their lack of focus on offering financial solutions to everyday Ghanaians.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted a lot of businesses and lives in the country but owing to the government’s decision to absorb water and electricity bills for three months and MTN’s gesture of on-net transfers up to GHC100 daily till Sept 30, 2020, people’s lives are becoming quite manageable.
