Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, has assured FinTechs that the Bank of Ghana as a regulator of financial service maintains the highest level of confidentiality and secrecy.
According to him, the participation of FinTechs in the Bank’s Regulatory Sandbox will not expose their ideas to third parties.
“We would like to assure you that every staff is committed to an oath of secrecy and under no circumstance will third party information be disclosed. A breach of the secrecy requirement attracts serious sanctions including dismissal.”
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
The Deputy Governor made this known at a remark read on his behalf by Mr. Kwame Agyapong Oppong, Head of Fintech and Innovation Office at the Bank of Ghana during a Regulatory Sandbox Engagement with Stakeholders in Accra.
Giving updates with regards to developments in virtual assets, the Deputy Governor noted that the Bank continues to monitor developments on regular basis, and the many cautionary notices issued indicate the presence of significant inherent risks.
“While we do stand by these cautions, we are open to dialogue geared towards the potential exploration of regulatory outcomes, keenly focused on consumer interest and protection. The Sandbox could potentially present us with these opportunities.
“I encourage you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to enhance service offerings to better serve the many people in Ghana whose financial service needs are yet to be satisfied.”
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
Digitalization drive in the Ghanaian financial service industry
The emergence of new technology has fueled the digitalisation drive in the Ghanaian financial service industry with tremendous impact on efficiency and convenience. Significant strides have been achieved in the mobilization of granular transactions, deployment of user-centric designs, delivery of affordable services and improved accessibility with phenomenal beneficial impact on financial inclusion.
Ghana’s recent remarkable performance in financial inclusion from 58% in 2017 to 68% in 2021 as reported in the 2021 Global Findex has been largely facilitated by digital financial service.
Though the Deputy Governor said this achievement is worth celebrating, he added that “a lot remains to be achieved”.
“We are however assured, based on the inclusion trajectory, that digitalization has been a competent tool and we will continue to leverage it. To meet the changing needs of customers as well as address the challenges of the industry calls for pragmatic and innovative solutions that confront the status quo.
“This, we consider a shared responsibility of the regulator and the innovators to create a conducive environment for experimentation. This approach, though useful, has its own risks; and if not properly directed, could be disastrous to society. A laissez-faire attitude to innovation and financial service delivery is therefore an unsuitable approach to accommodate.”
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
For this reason, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari indicated that the Bank of Ghana has created a properly guided enabling environment, through the introduction of its Regulatory Sandbox. The Regulatory Sandbox has been designed for innovators to test innovative financial products, services and business models in a controlled but live environment; and rightfully so, under the supervision of the Bank, he explained.
Need for the stakeholders’ engagement forum
According to him, the stakeholders’ engagement forum therefore presents a further opportunity to have an ongoing collaboration with industry to explore “our different perspectives and to work towards a common goal, which is the welfare of society”.
He stated that innovation and retooling of regulatory framework are not new to the Bank of Ghana because the Bank has been at the forefront of innovation in the financial service industry for decades.
In 2003, the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662) had in its preamble the promotion of electronic payments and set the stage for the establishment of GhIPSS and the many investments in the interbank payments infrastructure that have laid a strong foundation for digital financial service in Ghana.
Since then, the Deputy Governor noted that many more innovations and corresponding enabling regulatory regime have been provided, of which Act 987 is the most recent.
“Clearly, these and many commitments, including the regulatory sandbox are evidence of the Bank’s response to the prevailing industry dynamics and encourage stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunities Bank of Ghana has presented to inject some dynamism into their offerings through innovation.”
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari
He emphasized that adoption of responsible innovation presents a unique national advantage with the potential to attract investments into “our FinTech ecosystem” for the creation of employment and wealth.
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