The Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has directed the rolling out of a third phase of the mobile money interoperability.
It follows the successful launch of the second phase of the platform on Wednesday, November 28, 2018.
According to Dr. Bawumia, the third phase should allow vendors and merchants to transfer money from one network to another, using a single mobile phone and sim.
He describes the current situation where vendors and merchants are not able to do so as a constraint to achieving full financial inclusion.
“It should be possible for an operator or agent with one phone and sim to be able to load electronic funds into the wallet of the customer regardless of the network. The status quo is not efficient and affects both the agents output and profitability as well as both the scope in the cashlite agenda,” the Vice President said.
Without being specific on when the platform should be completed, the Vice President encouraged the various stakeholders to work assiduously as possible to get the system operational.
Telcos welcome idea
Telcom operators have since welcomed the idea saying it will attract more patronage of the interoperability platform.
The Head of Vodafone Cash, Martison Obeng Agyei in an interview with Citi Business News said, the fact the customer is the ultimate beneficiary is highly commendable.
“In all of this, I think the customer will be the biggest beneficiary; and I serve the customer so it is what is in the interest of the customer that is important. We just need to sit back, work at it from the backend so that nobody is disadvantaged.”
Meanwhile the CEO of ExpressPay, Curtis Vanderpuije has urged the various stakeholders to work to identify all critical issues so as to meet everyone’s interest.
“The telcos need to have very strong conversations to try and figure out who manages the liquidity, how do you get compensated for having better liquidity management than somebody else and what is the global outlook on agents,” he said.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana