The Role of Technology in Financial Inclusion-A Case Study Mobile Money Penetration in Ghana

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DOI: 10.21522/TIJAR.2014.08.04.Art003

Authors : Samuel Nii Attoh Abbey

Abstract:

With the flagship success of M-Pesa, mobile devices have become an important tool to facilitate the financial inclusion of the previously unbanked population in developing countries. Following the success of M-Pesa in Kenya in 2007, mobile money technologies became widespread across Africa. Beginning in 2009, Ghana experienced exceptional adoption of Mobile Money technology. Many studies have examined the influence of mobile money on financial inclusion from a variety of perspectives, and many have concluded that mobile money is a game-changer in this regard. The Mobile Money concept has evolved based on introducing the other value-added services such as microloans, savings, and insurance portfolios. The researcher used a questionnaire and a face-to-face interview to obtain qualitative data for this study. Together with other research, the statistics revealed that Mobile Money transactions in Ghana had more than tripled since it became the most popular payment method. Over the last year, the platform as a service has created over 140,000 jobs and has shown to be the safest channel. It has several advantages, including lowering the cost of printing and keeping cash on hand, as well as decreasing fraud because the technology underlying it gives appropriate audit trails to prevent fraud and boost economic growth.


Keywords: Access to finance, Automated Teller Machine (ATM, Mobile Network Operators (MNO), Cash-lite, developing countries, Development, Ezwich, Fintech, Financial inclusion, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GHIPS), Mobile phones, Mobile Financial Service (MFS), Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI), Mobile Money (Mobile Money), M-Pesa, Point of Sale (POS), Telcos, Point of Sale (POS), (SME) Small and Medium Enterprises, (SOHO) Small Office Home Office, Telcos.

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