Report shows that the growing number of transactions from mobile money operations is a threat to the future of banks in Ghana

This is because these mobile money agents are projected to soon apply for digital banking licences.

The Oxford Business Group (OBG) made this known in a report.

Recently, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) revealed that the largest share of mobile money deposits in Ghana rest with Fidelity Bank, which in 2017 held around $108 million (GH¢583million), followed by Ecobank and CAL Bank, with $87 million (GH¢470million) and $43 million (GH¢229 million) respectively

This analysis means that if the mobile money companies eventually become digital banks, which the report strongly predicts will happen, banks will no longer be the custodians of the mobile money accounts, a situation the OBG says will be disruptive to traditional lenders.

The threat of mobile money transactions to the banking sector is further affirmed by the 2018 Summary of Economic and Financial data report of the Bank of Ghana.

The central bank said that the rate of banks’ deposits dropped consecutively in the last three months of 2018.

The OBG has then said that although mobile money transactions have seen an astronomical jump since their introduction, it is posing a huge threat to the future of banks and must, therefore, be checked.

“The current legislative framework requires telcos to place their deposits with commercial banks, but the volume of funds attracted by mobile operators has exposed a vulnerability in the banking system,” the report said.

The OBG report added that similar trends happening across the globe have birthed products such as online savings accounts, personal finance management tools, real-time alerts, home loans, investments, fee-free international transactions, person-to-person payments, currency exchange, linked debit and credit cards, cash withdrawals at ATMs, and insurance and consumer benefits such as cash back rewards on purchases, all of which have posed serious competition to the traditional banking systems of countries where these innovations have taken place.

About the Oxford Business Group (OBG)

The Oxford Business Group is a global research and consultancy company producing business intelligence on more than 35 countries.

The company has been in existence since 1994 OBG and has been at the frontier of mapping new waves of emerging economies.

OBG currently operates in many of the world's fastest-growing markets, offering internationally acclaimed intelligence on regions that are shaping the future balance of economic power.