Adnan Adams Mohammed
The Bank of Ghana’s latest figures indicate that the value of mobile money (MOMO) transactions in January this year saw an eight percent decrease, from the GHS82.9 billion recorded in December 2021 to record GHS76.2 billion.
Also, the number of MoMo transactions also saw a drop from 401 million in December to 372 in January this year. This comes at the time of heated controversy surrounding the introduction of Electronic Transactions Levy which will have every MOMO transactions exceeding GHC300 to be taxed 1.75%.
Mobile Money Interoperability also saw a 15 percent drop in volume from 12.2 million in December to 10.3 million in January. But, on ear-on-year basis, the Central Bank’s Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data report the total number of MoMo transactions increased from 301 million in January last year to 372 million in January this year. MOMO transactions for the first month of this year have risen by 13.6 percent year-on-year to GHS76.2 billion.
“These reductions seem to be a result of reactions to the proposed electronic transfer levy, as government communications had earlier confirmed a reduction in the volumes if the tax policy is approved”, the Central bank indicated.
Meanwhile, the value of Mobile Money Interoperability transactions also saw a whooping jump of over 130 percent from GHS906 million to over GHS2.1 billion between January 2021 and January 2022. Although it is observed that on a year-on-year basis, most of these transactions recorded an increase in value and volume between January last year and January this year, the figures decreased on a monthly basis.
Even Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPPS) Instant Pay, which has constantly seen a rise in volume over the past months saw a 14 percent decrease from 5,375 to 4,620.
Players in the industry have hence predicted more decreases in the volumes and value of electronic transactions should the government go ahead to implement the electronic transfer levy.
