About 37.09 per cent of businesses in the country accept or use a digital payment system, with those in the agricultural sector having the lowest rate of adoption or usage, according to a report released by Retail Financial Distribution (ReFinD), a research entity, in Accra yesterday.
Also, the adoption of a digital payment platform is largely by the service sector – 38.4 per cent, industry 34.9 per cent and agriculture sector – 22.4 per cent.
Among industries in the formal and the informal sectors, the report indicated that 56.7 per cent make up the businesses that have adopted a digital payment; while 35.2 per cent constituted the informal sector.
The report, which is the first of its kind, was disseminated at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana.
It further indicated that the adoption and usage of digital payments included all non-cash payments such as personal mobile money, merchant payments, QR Code, point of sale (POS) device, card payments, platforms and mobile or internet banking.
The report was generated in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) through a nationwide census of businesses in a 2024 Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES).
Sensitisation
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Director of ISSER, Professor Peter Quartey, emphasised the need for extensive education on financial inclusion and the use of digital payment.
He explained that inadequate or lack of knowledge accounted for the non-adoption of digital platforms by most businesses.
“There are a number of reasons why adoption is low. One is the uncertainty in the business environment.
“There is also the cost element and taxation and a few other constraints limiting the ability to adopt digital payment.
“Overall, I think it’s one of the surest means of including the unbanked in financial services. I must say that although cash is still leading, we have made progress,” he said.
Prof. Quartey also mentioned impediments like the electronic transaction tax – E-levy, which he said had also affected the adoption of the digital payment, saying “if we had not implemented e-levy, the story would have been different”.
Significance
A Lead Researcher at ReFinD, Professor Francis Annan, said the report provided the country with a baseline of how the country could conceivably advance with respect to financial inclusion and adoption of digital payment.
He said although there were lot of barriers to cross, the financial sector and businesses must take the needed step to tackle head-on those barriers to increase financial inclusion performance of firms.
Prof. Annan encouraged firms to embrace new technologies and invest in minimising fraud as “fraud is such a very classic barrier.
Again, that requires a lot of engagement from regulators, commercial providers like MTN and other fintechs to think really hard about how to build a more resilient financial system”.
Source: www.graphic.com.gh
By Pacome Emmanuel Damalie
