Total value of Mobile Money (MoMo) transactions has continued its strong performance in the second half of the year, hitting a record-high of GHS100.2 billion in October 2022 after suffering a dip in July.

The current value of MoMo transactions represents a year-on-year growth of 25.3 percent compared to its value of GHS80.0 billion in the corresponding month of last year. In nominal terms, it means that the value of mobile money transactions has gone up by GHS20.2 billion in the past one year to October.

Latest Mobile Money data presented by the Bank of Ghana showed that the value of MoMo transactions rose to GHS87.1 billion in August 2022, up from GHS77.2 billion in July. This implies that transactions undertaken through the MoMo platform rose by GHS9.9 billion in the second month of the third quarter which in percentage terms, represents a month-on-month growth of 12.8 percent.

The value then rose to GHS88.8 billion at the end of the third quarter in September 2022, an increase of GHS1.7 billion over the value recorded in August. A look from another angle showed that the value of transactions undertaken via the MoMo platform went up by GHS11.6 billion in Q3 2022.

With the value rising to GHS100.2 billion in the first month of the fourth and final quarter of the year, it literally means that the value of transactions has gone up by 24 billion so far this year, compared to GHS76.2 billion recorded in January 2022. This is a year-to-date growth of 31.5 percent.

Rise in total number of transactions

The sterling performance seen in the value of transactions was also accompanied by an increase in the volume or total number of these transactions which now stood at 480 million in October 2022.

From 401 million in December 2021, total number of MoMo transactions dropped to 372 million in January 2022. Total number of transactions however, picked up gradually, hitting 413 million in March. It then dropped to 403 million in April, fell further to 382 million in May and then to 378 million June.

Total number of accounts transacting however, recovered sharply at the beginning of the second quarter, hitting 399 million in July and rose further to 447 million in August and remained unchanged in September. The rise to a record-high of 480 million at the beginning of the final quarter could signal that more transactions will be undertaken as the festive season draws closer and the year gradually winds up.

Additionally, the data revealed that registered mobile money accounts also continued to rise, signaling that more people are embracing the MoMo platform which is an indication of an improvement in financial inclusion in the country.

Currently, there are 53.8 million registered MoMo accounts as of October 2022, compared to 47.3 million and 48.4 million respectively, in October 2021 and January 2022.

Active mobile money accounts also improved in October 2022 to 20.2 million compared to 17.4 million in January. There are now 677 thousand registered mobile money agents as of October 2022, out of which 489 thousand are active.

Overall, the payment system remains vibrant and resilient as reflected in improvement in the value and volume of transactions undertaken on the Mobile Money Interoperability platform, cheques cleared, and the Ghipss Instant Pay.