Ray Anselm Sowah Listen to article
Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) will officially launch “G-Money”, an industry first mobile wallet service on Friday, January 30.
The move, which forms part of GCB’s commitment to driving financial inclusion in its strategic objectives, comes after the bank’s receipt of approval from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on November 25, 2019 to create electronic value backed by equivalent cash to serve customers.
Apart from affording customers the freedom to perform transactions regardless of their mobile network operator, G-Money will also create an enabling environment for the ongoing digitization processes in Ghana’s economy.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Ray Sowah, MD of GCB explained the relevance of the mobile wallet service to the nation’s development saying, “Under goal-nine of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-9) which focuses on industry, innovation and infrastructure, the bank seeks to bridge the digital divide which is crucial to ensure equal access to information and financial services. Leveraging GCB’s rich experience in banking acquired over many years, we will offer financial services tailored to suit the specific needs of our diverse customers,” he emphasized.
G-Money, which is the first of its kind to be operated by any bank in Ghana, would allow individuals and businesses to use their mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) to store money in the form of electronic money or value for transactions.
The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)-ran service will allow both bank and non-bank customers to send and receive money both locally and internationally. Customers will also be able to save and borrow money using their G-Money accounts. The account can also be linked to any GCB account for easy transactions.
The introduction of G-Money is part of GCB’s mandate to increase the number of digital services available to its loyal customers. The service is also expected to further propel Ghana’s interoperability system initiated by the government.
Other services that G-Money offers include the payment of telecommunication network services and the payment of utility bills. The service can be accessed by registering at any GCB branch or at selected GCB agent points.
All subscribers, agents and merchants of existing mobile money services can still register to use the G-Money service.