Registered mobile money accounts have continued to see significant growth in the country over the years. However, data from the Bank of Ghana show that only 43% of registered MoMo accounts were active as of End-February 2021. According to the data, there were 40.9 million registered MoMo accounts as of End- February 2021 of which 17.5 million were active users.
Unsurprisingly, the data revealed that the growth rate of registered MoMo accounts far outweighs that of the active users over the years. For instance, registered mobile accounts grew by 25% over the past year, up from 32.7 million in February 2020. Yet, active users rose from 14.7 million in February 2020 to 17.5 million in the corresponding month of 2021. As a result, the rise in active users of 2.8 million translated into a year-on-year growth rate of 19%.
In the same vein, the number of registered mobile money agents has also continued to rise. As of End-February 2020, there were 324 thousand registered MoMo agents across the country. The number has since increased to 465 thousand as of the end of February this year. This is an expansion of 43.5% in the number of registered MoMo agents in Ghana in the last year. Also, active registered agents rose to 356 thousand in February 2021 from 235 thousand the same month last year.
Value of MoMo transactions
Nevertheless, the most important thing, which is the value of transactions has continued to increase significantly. The value of mobile money transactions has more than doubled in just one year. More specifically, the value of total MoMo transactions rose from GH¢30.1 billion in February 2020 to GH¢67.9 billion in February this year. This is an unprecedented year-on-year growth of 125.6%.
Also, month-on-month analyses of the data show that the value of MoMo transactions went up by GH¢0.8 billion in February 2021. Notably, the total value of mobile money transactions was GH¢67.1 billion at the end of January 2021.
Moreover, the growth in the total value of mobile money transactions perfectly mirrors the rise in the total number of transactions. Between February 2020 and February 2021, the total number of MoMo transactions increased by 102 million. In other words, the value of transactions increased from 193 million in February 2020 to 295 million in February 2021. This translated into a year-on-year growth rate of 53%.
Mobile Money Interoperability
Furthermore, the value of transactions under the Mobile Money Interoperability currently stands at GH¢990.7 million as of End-February 2021. This is almost 7 times the value of GH¢126.6 million recorded in February 2020. The total number of transactions also increased from 1.6 million in February last year to 6.2 million by End-February 2021.
More importantly, the recent rise in the patronage of mobile money in the country will further consolidate the government’s digitization agenda. Also, it has raised hopes of the government meeting its goal of attaining 85% financial inclusion by 2023.
Meanwhile, the telecommunication companies have streamlined measures to ensure the safety of customers’ money in their MoMo wallets. There have been several instances of reported mobile money fraud in recent times. As such, telecommunication giant MTN, currently requires its customers to present an ID card for MoMo cash-out transactions effective April 2, 2021. This will further boost the confidence of the general public in the usage of MoMo products.
However, some customers have appealed to MTN to intensify its sensitization efforts in connection to the introduction of ID cards. This will reduce any inconveniences that the current directive may cause.
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