After the success of the first phase of the Mobile Money Interoperability, Phase II is set to roll out by the Vice President on Wednesday, November 28, 2018.
Phase one made it possible for customers to send mobile money across all networks and from mobile money wallets to bank accounts and vice versa.
The second phase adds on ezwich to the connection so customers can move funds from banks to mobile money wallets to ezwich cards.
Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah noted various payment platforms are integrated into the system which allows for seamless flow of transactions across mobile money, bank and other payment systems.
In March 2017, the Mobile Money Interoperability Project was commissioned by the Vice President, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia with GhIPSS tasked to lead the project partnering three mobile Money Operators: MTN, Vodafone and Airtel/Tigo, and financial institutions.
The project was executed in 2 phases;
Phase one (I) saw the interconnection of the mobile money platforms and the Ghana National Switch (gh-link system). It made it possible for customers to send MoMo across networks and from MoMo wallet to bank account and vice versa. Over 1.3 million transactions have been recorded so far on the Phase I platform.
With the successful roll out of phase II, Customers will be able to send and receive money directly from each other irrespective of the payment platform they are on; allowing them more accessibility and convenience. Achieving this level of Interoperability, contributes to digitizing cash in the Ghanaian economy, increasing efficiency of payments, and improving financial inclusion by bridging the gap between the banked and unbanked.
It will also enable free flow of funds between and among all the three platforms; allowing the banked and the unbanked to interact at the same level.