The value of Mobile Money (MoMo) transactions has for the first time this year, seen a nosedive in August despite a rise in the total number of transactions.

Recent Economic and Financial Data from the Bank of Ghana show; that the value of mobile money transactions has declined from GHȼ99.1 billion in July to GHȼ81.8 billion in August 2021. The drop in the value of MoMo transactions by GHȼ 17.3 billion represents a month-on-month decline of 17.5 percent.

This halts a-seven successive months’ increasing trend in the value of MoMo transactions this year. Despite the fall, the transactional value of mobile money has increased;year-on-year by 46.07 percent, up from 56.0 billion in August 2020.

Even though the value of transactions nosedived, the balance;on the float rose by GHȼ 0.4 billion to GHȼ 8.8 billion in August, the highest in the past one year.

The fall in the value of MoMo transactions was however, accompanied by;a rise in the total number of transactions in the eighth month of the year. In August 2021, a total of 377 million mobile money transactions;took place in the country, 12 million higher than the 365 million recorded in July.

Compared to the corresponding month last year, the current volume of;transactions represents an annual growth of 41.2 percent over the 267 million recorded in August 2020. To put things in perspective, the volume of transactions has increased by 76 million in the first eight months of this year.

Decline in Registered mobile money accounts

Registered mobile money accounts have also declined between July and August this year. In July 2021, there were 45.0 million registered accounts but this fell to 43.9 million by the end of August 2021. The good news however, is the rise in active users of mobile money services to 19.1 million, the highest ever recorded since the introduction of MoMo in the country.

As of End-July 2021, there were 17.3 million active mobile money users in the country. This means that active MoMo accounts have gone up by 1.8 million in August. The implication is that more people are using mobile money as a mode of transaction, a positive development towards enhancing financial inclusion in the country.

The role of mobile money in job creation in the country cannot be underestimated as it continues to provide employment opportunities for thousands of Ghanaians, especially mobile money agents. According to the data, registered MoMo agents rose from 526, 000 in July to 539, 000 in August. Out of this number, 425,000 are active mobile money agents currently.

Compared to a year ago, there were 280,000 active agents in the country. The current trend depicts a direct relationship between demand for mobile money services, measured by the active mobile money accounts, and employment in the MoMo industry.

Mobile Money Interoperability

Mobile Money Interoperability also continue to make significant strides over the years. Total Transaction Value of Interoperability stands at GHȼ1,968.4 million as of End-August 2021, up from GHȼ1,886.1 million in July. Similarly, the number of transactions also increased to 12.4 million in August from 11.5 million recorded in the preceding month.

Despite mixed developments from other forms of payments platforms within the review period, the payment system in the country continue to improve in terms of usage of the services and the value of transactions. Should this continue, the government’s cash lite agenda will soon become a reality.

But to whom much is given much is expected, so, Telecom operators and the government must constantly put the necessary measures in place to ensure the safety of the various platforms to further enhance their usage in the country. This continuous growth in the payment system will benefit both the telecom industry and the government as well.