bog.gov.gh E-Money Issuers : Bank of Ghana

Organisation : Bank of Ghana
Facility : E-Money Issuers in Ghana
Country : Ghana

Homepage : https://www.bog.gov.gh/
Terms & Conditions : https://www.statusin.org/uploads/26759-E-MONEY.pdf

E-Money Issuers :

(1) These Guidelines shall be called the Guidelines for E-Money Issuers in Ghana.
(2) The Guidelines shall come into effect on July 6, 2015.

Related : Bank of Ghana Requirement for Applying Micro Finance Institution License : www.statusin.org/26736.html

(3) Non-banks that have previously been offering mobile financial services in partnership with banks must apply within six months of the coming into effect of these Guidelines, for a license in order to conform to the new framework.

2. Objectives :
The Guidelines for e-money issuers set out by the Bank of Ghana are aimed at achieving the following objectives :
a) Promote financial inclusion without risking the safety and soundness of the financial system;

b) Extend financial services beyond traditional branch-based channels to the domain of everyday transactions;

c) Ensure that electronic money is only provided by
(i) financial institutions regulated under the Banking Act, 2004 (Act 673) or

(ii) duly licensed non-bank entities which are engaged solely in the business of e-money and activities related or incidental to the business of e-money and which are regulated and supervised by the Bank of Ghana (“Dedicated EMIs”);

d) Ensure that customers of e-money issuers benefit from adequate transparency, fair treatment, and effective recourse.

3. Interpretation :
In these Guidelines, unless the context otherwise requires,
a) “agent” has the meaning assigned to it in the Agent Guidelines;
b) “AML/CFT” means Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism;

c) “cash-in” means accepting banknotes or coins and performing the necessary steps to initiate the crediting of that monetary value to the customer’s e-money account;

d) “cash-out” means giving out banknotes or coins and performing the necessary steps to initiate the debiting of that monetary value from the customer’s e-money account;

e) “complete application” means the submission of all required documents needed to process an application/authorisation;

f) “customer due diligence” (CDD) means the process of obtaining customer information and verifying/assessing the value of the information from independent and reliable sources to identify the customer upfront, as well as to detect, monitor and report suspicious activity;

g) “Dedicated EMI” or “DEMI” means a legal person that has been licensed under Paragraph (7) of these Guidelines;

h) “electronic money” or “e-money” means electronically, including magnetically, stored monetary value as represented by a claim on the issuer which is issued on receipt of funds, redeemable against cash and accepted by a natural or legal person other than the emoney issuer;

i) “e-money account” means the account held by an e-money holder with an e-money issuer for conducting e-money transactions and/or for cash-in/cash-out transactions;

j) “e-money business” means the issuance, transfer, payment and redemption of electronic money, and any other activity permitted under these Guidelines and by the Bank of Ghana.

k) “e-money float” or “float” means the total outstanding e-money liabilities of the emoney issuer to its customers at any point in time;

l) “e-money holder” means a person who has a claim on an e-money issuer for e-money issued by same;

m) “e-money issuer” or “EMI” means an entity issuing e-money and could be either a Dedicated EMI licensed under these Guidelines or a financial institution regulated under the Banking Act and authorised under these Guidelines;

n) “e-money user” means a person who uses e-money for making financial transactions either with or without opening an e-money account;
o) “KYC” means Know Your Customer;

p) “merchant” means a commercial establishment where customers are able to pay for goods and services using e-money;
q) “MSISDN” means Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number

r) “over-the-counter transaction” or “OTC transaction” refers to a transaction conducted by a customer with an EMI or its agents in cash without making use of an e-money account held in their own name. The sub-set of OTC transactions for which this applies to both sender and recipient shall be called “Cash-to-cash” or “C2C” transactions;

s) “penalty unit” refers to such units established by the Fines (Penalty Units) Act 2000 (Act 572). The monetary value of a penalty unit stands at GH¢12.00;

t) “real time” means the electronic processing of transactional data instantaneously;
u) “regulated financial institution” or “RFI” means a financial institution regulated under the Banking Act, 2004 (Act 673);

v) “significant shareholding” means a direct or indirect holding which
i) represents ten per cent or more of the capital or of the voting right; or

ii) makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the entity in which a holding subsists.

w) “significant owners” are such owners that have significant shareholding in an entity;
x) “universal bank” means a bank, excluding rural and community banks, licensed by the Bank of Ghana to carry out the business of banking.

4. Repeals and Savings :
These Guidelines do not, in general, supersede or revoke any of the existing laws, rules and regulations except for the Guidelines for Branchless Banking, Notice No. BG/GOV/SEC/2008/21 which are herewith revoked.