The Mobile Money Advocacy Group Ghana (MoMAG) says the government has no involvement in MTN’s proposed 0.75% wallet-to-bank transfer fee.
Speaking on Atinka FM, MoMAG Executive Member in charge of Operations, Research and Implementation, Stephen Quarcoo Gorman, criticised the way the issue was communicated to the public.
According to him, Mobile Money Fintech Limited should have informed customers directly before details of the proposed charge became public.
“Mobile Money Fintech Limited was supposed to communicate the information to its customers because they did not want consumers to be surprised by the charges if implemented,” he said.
Gorman explained that MTN cannot introduce such charges without approval from the Bank of Ghana because the industry is regulated under the Electronic Transactions Act.
He also argued that the Bank of Ghana’s decision to publicly suspend the proposed fee after social media backlash created the impression that the central bank had prior knowledge of the move.
“When the BoG rushed to halt the implementation because of the controversies on social media, consumers assumed it was aware of it,” he stated.
Gorman compared the issue to the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), noting that unlike the government tax, the proposed 0.75% fee is a private service charge limited to MTN transactions.
“The E-Levy went to the GRA and not private providers, but this one is limited to MTN,” he explained.
He clarified that the proposed fee, capped at GH¢5 per transaction, would apply to wallet-to-bank transfers.
“We want to educate everyone that the wallet-to-bank transaction fee is charged by MTN and has nothing to do with the government,” he stressed.
Gorman also urged the Bank of Ghana to pay more attention to charges imposed by commercial banks, describing some of the fees as excessive.
“I see no reason why banks should charge consumers for depositing money,” he added.
He further appealed to MTN to maintain its current zero-fee policy on bank-to-wallet transfers while engaging banks privately to find a solution that protects consumers.
