Some players in the financial industry have called for collaboration between banks and mobile money operators even as banks seek to create access to funds for entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs in Ghana have over the years lamented the difficulty they face in securing loans needed to start up and expand their businesses.
According to the financial players however, banks can track the credit worthiness of entrepreneurs who do not have bank accounts yet seek to acquire loans by checking their credit worthiness on their mobile money platforms.
They believe the digital payment offered through mobile money services provides enough track record for financial institutions such as banks to determine whether or not to give a loan for individuals who seek them.
Speaking to Citi Business News at the sidelines of the Women Entrepreneurship Summit, Director of Vodafone Cash, Martison Obeng Agyei said banks should leverage on the mobile money transactions of people to provide them with loans.
“Mobile financial services for instance has helped a lot of women in Kenya and Tanzania to have access to funds, so what typically happens is that their credit scoring is done mainly based on the amount of mobile money transactions they have done in the period”.
He explained that entrepreneurs in Kenya and Tanzania who are able to secure loans from the banks do not have bank accounts but are deemed credit worthy based on the digital history of their mobile money transactions.
“Most of them actually don’t even have bank accounts but their mobile money account usage was good enough representation for them to access funds through the bigger financial institutions which are the banks.
“Mr. Martison stressed that it is crucial for entrepreneurs to lean towards digitized payments to enable financial institutions have some sort of record on their credit worthiness.
“So I am admonishing most women to try and digitize their payments and collection as this will play a key role in
The Women Entrepreneurship Summit formed part of activities for this year’s Citi Business Festival, which is aimed at finding solutions to the major challenges that confront business women in Ghana.
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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana