UBA Boss charges BoG to regulate Financial Technology and Telecommunication companies

Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Abiola Bawuah has charged the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to place Financial Technology (Fintech) and Telecommunications (Teleco’s) companies under its regulatory auspices to ensure an even requirement for Banks and these companies.

Mrs Bawuah observed that the telcos and financial technology companies offer almost the same service in the banking sector, and therefore have to be given similar requirements to ensure a level playing field.

“Apart from the core banking function, the Fintech’s and the Telcos now offer all the various packages in the banking industry. This is the time for our regulator the Bank of Ghana to regulate them and make sure that the requirement is even for both the bank and these companies.”

Most of the innovation Financial Technology Companies are coming up with should be done in collaboration with the Banks according to Mrs. Abiola Bawuah, adding that it shouldn’t be possible for a financial technology company to roll out bank products without collaborating with banks.

Ghana’s fintech ecosystem is one of the most active ones in the sub-Saharan region. An emerging markets financial services fund; Leapfrog Investments has invested over $15 million in Ghana’s insurance sector since 2012.

Report has it that 17% of Ghanaian adults are active users of Mobile Money, suggesting that high banking penetration has likely played a role in Ghana’s adoption of Mobile Money - 34% of adults already have a bank account, and 45% of those individuals access it through mobile apps or the internet.

Ghana’s active Mobile Money user-base has more than doubled in one year.