The days of transacting business in cash is set for a sidestep as the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is set to implement policies that will encourage cashless systems such as mobile money in the country.

This was revealed at a stakeholders’ conference to mark MTN’s 5th anniversary of its innovative Mobile Money.

Mr Clarence Blay, Head of System Payment Policy and Oversight at the Central Bank indicated that a ‘cash-light’ society would reduce the high costs associated with brick-and-mortar banking and provide convenience and affordability to the populace.

The BoG supremo stated that the Central Bank will lend its support to MTN and other players in the industry “to complement the other electronic means of making payment…capable of driving..a ‘cash-light’ society without leaving any segment of the population out.”

Mobile money is a system that enables individuals to send and receive money using mobile phones. It is geared to be a leader in this quest towards a ‘cash-light’ society in Ghana according to a number of experts.

Head of Business Support Systems for Ericsson Sub-saharan Africa, Kess Atuyota, noted that Ghana has a huge potential for mobile money. He indicated that Kenya, a success story in mobile money, has over 20 million subscribers.

Though Ghana’s figure dwarfs in comparison, he indicated that this could be improved if the Central Bank implements a policy ensuring businesses of certain size provide mobile money platforms for transactions.

Grant Manager, Mass Savings Project at Ecobank, Owireku Asare, added his voice to the call on stakeholders to ensure that Ghana becomes a ‘cashlight’ society. He lauded MTN’s achievements in this respect, saying that the telecoms giant has achieved a subscriber base that could only be envied by the banking sector.

This he explained was due to the relatively short 5-year period that MTN had achieved its 4.5 million subscriber base, compared with that of the banking industry that had a similar figure, despite its existence of over a hundred years.

Managing Director of Jumia House Ghana, Akua Nyame-Mensah spoke of the benefits mobile money had for the housing sector. She mentioned that Jumia House went into partnership with MTN in order to provide a convenient means of payment for their clients.

“Most clients are busy and don’t have time to be queueing up in the bank or coming to us to make payment. With MTN Mobile Money, they are assured of convenience and this will enable them to be even more productive at the workplace.”

She encouraged all real estate developers, agents and house-hunters alike to patronize mobile money to ease their transaction needs.