Players in the financial and banking industry should harness digitisation to reach the unbanked and broaden their services to all segments of society, the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari has said.
According to him, the future of banking and finance was digitisation, and players in the space must position themselves to exploit the opportunities associated with the sector.
Speaking at the Digital Banking Summit Innovation and Excellence Awards 2019 in Accra yesterday, Dr Opoku-Afari said adopting digital technology by players in the banking and financial space could help promote transactional efficiency in the delivery of financial services as well as scale up and broaden financial access to all segments of the society.
The two-day programme being organised by the International Centre for Strategic Alliances under the auspices of Mastercard is on the theme: ‘Digitisation of banking sector en route to a cashless Africa’, is being attended by players from the banking and financial industry from Ghana and other African countries.
Dr Opoku-Afari explained that digital innovation was creating unprecedented opportunities for Africa to grow its economy, create jobs, and transform people’s lives.
"New technologies and business models are opening alternative pathways to economic growth in emerging markets, offering opportunities to reshape our lives and improve economic growth," he said.
He said, "With the advent of technology, conservative banking operations has given way to dynamism and competition, as innovative financial services and products are constantly being churned out," stressing that digitisation provided great potential for the banking sector to offer products and services that hitherto was not regarded as feasible.
He entreated players in the banking, financial and Fintech space to collaborate and work collectively to promote the acceptance of digital financial services and products by merchants and the general public.
Dr Opoku-Afari pledged that his outfit would continue to create the necessary regulatory environment for the digital industry to thrive.
The Executive Director in charge of Retail Banking at Access Bank Ghana, Stephen Abban, who spoke on the topic, ‘Fintech and the future of banking’, said banks needed to adapt to the changing evolution in the banking and digital space to remain in business.
He said companies which did not adapt to growing changes in technology collapsed, saying, "You either change or perish."