MTN in talks with ECG
MTN Ghana, a telecommunications company in the country, is holding talks with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to enrol the electricity prepaid service on the MTN mobile money platform.
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This means that subscribers of MTN mobile money could soon purchase prepaid electricity through their wallet should the discussions with the electricity power distributor prove successful.
“Discussions are already underway with the Electricity Company of Ghana to enrol the electricity prepaid service on the MTN Mobile Money platform,” Mr Eli Hini said in an interview with the Daily Graphic at the launch of the MTN Mobile Money Month in Accra.
The MTN Mobile Money Month, which was introduced in 2012, is celebrated in August each year to deepen the awareness of the MTN mobile money service and its benefits among Ghanaians.
This year’s celebration is on the theme: “Let’s go cashless with MTN Mobile Money” and it will be marked by a series of activities across the country.
The activities outlined for the month-long celebrations include a stakeholder conference, inter-tertiary institutions debate in partnership with NUGS, consumer promotions and a merchant or agent fora.
Other activities to be undertaken include a launch of interesting initiatives by partner banks of the MTN mobile money to excite customers who transact business with them throughout the month.
Cashless society
There are currently about five million MTN mobile money active subscribers and over 46,000 merchants nationwide, Mr Hini argued, and added that it was important for Ghana to drive the digital agenda within the framework of the law.
“With improved usage of the service, we decided to revisit the cashless society agenda which was the theme for the mobile money month in 2012. As a growing economy, we must develop a structured programme to achieve the benefits of a cashless economy as the benefits are huge,” he said.
ISO/IEC 27001 Certification
Mr Hini said MTN had acquired ISO/IEC 27001 certification for its mobile money transaction platform, the only company to achieve that feat in Ghana, to give confidence to the service subscribers.
“I will like to reiterate the point that MTN Ghana’s mobile money service is safe and efficient. The service operations have been upgraded and it is the only mobile money service set-up in Ghana to have attained the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification,” he said.
He said the company was very optimistic about increasing the number of its MTN mobile money merchants from the current 35,000 to cover more potential customers.
From a humble beginning, he said “customer behaviour has changed and we are seeing the usage of more advanced services such as bill payments, salary payments, school fees payment, payment of goods and services, as well as several others”.
