Mobile money, financial inclusion and poverty: key results from two new surveys in Ghana

Abstract

We investigate mobile money adoption, and how it affected household behaviour and financial inclusion in Ghana. We first provide an overview of mobile phone and mobile money development in Ghana. Then we present results of two household surveys carried out in 2017 and 2019 and conducted in all regions of Ghana, each survey covering 1000 households. In 2019 more than 90% reported that they use mobile money reflecting its widespread adoption in Ghana by that time. Different socio-economic characteristics are important in the take-up and use of mobile money. Mobile money users tend to make greater use of formal financial services than non-users and may therefore be more financially included. Mobile money is used for a range of transactions especially remittances, but also payments for goods and services, including financial services and savings. Mobile money may also impact social networks insofar as face-to-face meetings may be replaced by mobile phone interactions.

A survey on mobile payment applications and adopted theoretical models

“…Many commercial and banking companies turn to mobile phone applications as they provide unlimited access at any time and in any place [2][3][4] because it enables the customers to manage commercial and financial transactions and to enjoy the many services that are provided through mobile applications. Where financial applications in the smartphone are widely adopted in developed countries and developing countries [5], such as the United States [6], the United Kingdom [7], India [8][9][10], China [11], Ghana [12], Malaysia [5,13], Indonesia [1], and Oman [14]. Despite the many services of mobile banking applications, only a limited number of customers use mobile applications.…”

“…Whereas cashless payment is the essence of electronic and mobile commerce in the world, which can comprise loads of smartphone applications such as (mobile banking apps, mobile payment apps, digital or mobile wallet apps, mobile money apps, etc.) These smartphone applications have replaced services based on the traditional way of visiting banks and ATMs with electronic payments that facilitate the process of online transactions any-time and any-where [12,17]. In addition, utilizing mobile payment apps is now convenient for the customer [18] because mobile payments are characterized by the availability, atomicity, integrity, the impossibility of non-repudiation, profitability, security, confidentiality, and usability for any financial services [19].…”