Fintech companies call for review of e-levy
Financial technology (fintech) companies in the country have called on the government to review the imposition of a 1.75% electronic levy (e-levy) on mobile money transactions (MoMo), inward remittances and automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals.
According to the companies, including telecommunication operators, the e-levy which is expected to take effect from January 2022 would derail the progress made in the digital economy.
They argued that the imposition of the levy if not reviewed downwards would also affect their operations and revenue as well as the government’s pursuit to achieve financial inclusiveness.
They raised this concern in an interview with The Ghana Report on sidelines of a two-day fintech conference and awards ceremony held over the weekend in Accra.
The Senior Manager of Risk and Compliance for MTN Mobile Money Limited, Godwin Kwame Tamakloe, said, “the 1.75% levy is hard from the government, but if customers are exposed to a smaller amount of levy, they continuously do transactions and then government can benefit or gain the revenue they seek to get.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PayBox, Phillip Boye Doku, said the levy on electronic transactions was “not too good because a lot of the low earning people use MoMo and the likes of people in the extreme villages.”
He added that “although there is a threshold, I feel a lot of people send more than that [GH₵100] each day. So if it is reviewed the better.”
Meanwhile, fintech companies were urged to form stronger partnerships among themselves to provide customer-centered solutions that would propel investment and economic growth.
This is because the kind of operations in the fintech sector required that they work closely with each other to provide a holistic and quality services to customers.
Mr Fred Abby, Head of Technology Operations, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS), also charged various companies within the fintech sector to collaborate with each other as it would enable easy payment across various industry.
“This is an opportunity for other payment solution providers to come on board to provide customer-centred-solutions that the other institutions do not already have and make it easy to integrate,” he said.
On the awards night, individuals and companies were awarded for their contributions to the development of the sector and the country at large.
Mr and Andrew Takyi-Appiah, the Chief Executive Officer of Zeepay Ghana Limited and Dede Afriyie Quarshie, also with Zeepay were awarded the male and female Fintech Personality of the year respectively. The company also won the Fintech Company of the year award.
Paybox, a fintech company that provides provide small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) with digital business tools and a cross-border payment solution won the Start-Up Fintech of the year.
Technology firm of the year went to Clydestone Ghana Limited, Insurtech company of the year went to Insurity Digital, with Edutech of the year going to Blossom Academy.
Healthtech of the year was won by Mpharma, Agritech of the year went to Kwidex, while non-bank partnership went to Kudigo Inc, with GHiPPS being adjudged as the Bank partnership of the year. BPC Banking Technologies and Panamax were given honorary awards.