Mobile money transactions surpass ¢550 billion in first four months of 2023

Total mobile money transactions in Ghana for the first four months of 2023 have exceeded ¢550 billion, reflecting year-on-year growth of 66.2%, according to data from the Bank of Ghana.

Comparatively, the recorded transactions during the same period in 2022 were ¢331.2 billion.

If this trend continues, the total mobile money transactions for this year are expected to surpass ¢1 trillion.

The May 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial Data by the Bank of Ghana reveals that mobile money transactions in January 2023 were estimated at ¢130.1 billion, compared to ¢76.2 billion during the same period in 2022.

In February 2023, it surged to ¢134.0 billion (compared to ¢76.5 billion in February 2022) and further increased to ¢147.5 billion in March 2023 (compared to ¢90.5 billion in March 2022).

However, there was a slight decline in April 2023, with transactions totalling ¢138.8 billion (compared to ¢87.7 billion in April 2022).

Remarkably, the growth in mobile money transactions has occurred despite the implementation of the 1% Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy).

The data shows that mobile money transactions have been consistently increasing since the implementation of the E-Levy in May 2022 at a rate of 1.5%.

On January 11, 2023, the government reduced the tax rate on electronic transactions from 1.5% to 1.0%.