• Mr John Gely (3rd left), Head of MoneyGram, Africa exchanging the symbolic partnership card with Mr Andrew Takyi-Appiah, MD of Zeepay Ghana Limited. Looking on are officials of MoneyGram and Zeepay

MoneyGram partners Zeepay to channel remittances via mobile wallet

Jessica Acheampong Business News Sep - 17 - 2018 , 10:54

Global provider of money transfer and payment services, MoneyGram, has partnered local Fintech company, Zeepay Ghana Limited, to provide services that will enable customers to receive remittances through their mobile money wallets.

The MoneyGram-to-Mobile wallet service will also allow customers to send their remittances directly into any mobile wallet in Ghana.

The service is available on all domestic mobile money wallet platforms –MTN Mobile Money, Vodafone Cash and Aitrel-Tigo Mobile Money Wallet- as well as the Zeepay wallets.

The two companies have subsequently signed an agreement to officially launch the service in Ghana. The Head of MoneyGram, Africa, Mr John Gely, signed on behalf of his company, while the Managing Director of Zeepay Ghana Limited, Mr Andrew Takyi-Appiah, initialled on behalf of Zeepay.

Mr Andrew Takyi-Appiah said the partnership was in response to the growing dominance of technology in various facets of life to help improve last mile access and to promote financial inclusion in the country.

He said the new channel would also help drive down the cost of remitting money to Ghana, providing an easier and accessible platform to extend mobile financial services.

MoneyGram

The Regional Director, MoneyGram Anglophone West Africa, Mr Patrick Appiah, said with the strong position in the cash segment and the development of digital financial services, MoneyGram would like to be at the forefront and use its capabilities in remittance and digital payments to provide customers with user-friendly, rapid-response and low-cost money transfer services.

The African continent, he said, remained one of the key markets for MoneyGram globally.

According to the World Bank, in 2017, US$2.2 billion flowed into Ghana, an increase of 4.3 per cent compared to 2016, which made the country the fifth largest remittances recipient in Africa. The inflows come mainly from the United States, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

Govt driving financial inclusion

The Director, Financial Sector Division at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Sampson Akligoh, said the government was keen on driving financial inclusion in the country with a target to achieve 90 per cent financial inclusion by the year 2020 and thus develop the Financial Inclusion Strategy to help drive this.

He said with the growth of technology in the financial services landscape, it was important for banks to develop ways to remain relevant for customers to patronise their services.

He also added that the Cabinet had approved the Payment System and Services Bill which would soon be presented to Parliament for ratification.

The new bill is to promote a robust and vibrant financial technology and mobile money industry.

Mr Akligoh also noted that there was a lot of space for fintech in the local economy, hence the need for local companies to position themselves to operate in that space.