Accra, Oct 27, GNA- The Bank of Ghana (BOG) says the ongoing SIM registration exercise will ensure the centralisation of Know Your Customer (KYC) data.
The centralisation of KYC data, the Bank said, will help improve the delivery of financial services devoid of fraud, theft, money laundering and terrorism financing.
KYC involves several steps to establish customer identity; understand the nature of customers’ activities and qualify that the source of funds is legitimate and assess money laundering risks associated with customers.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech Festival 2022, Dr, Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank, said the Bank is collaborating with relevant stakeholders such as the Ministries of Finance and Communication to set the digital infrastructure base of the economy.
He added that “the consumer should be at the centre of our collective efforts. As such, the Bank will not relent on its effort to protect them”.
In line with its agenda of running a cash-lite economy, he said the bank had introduced interventions geared towards creating a conducive environment for financial technology (fintech) companies and other financial institutions to thrive.
These included the development of an artificial intelligence-powered automated customer complaint system referred to as a chatbot, the introduction of a digital currency and the launch of the Regulatory Sandbox on August 19, 2022, to enable live testing of innovative financial products, services and business models.
Ghana reached a milestone in 2003 when the Payment Systems Act 2003 (Act 662) was passed and set in motion the promotion of electronic payments in Ghana.
The law provided the mandate to establish the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS) which aided by sustained investments in the interbank payments infrastructure, has proven to be a stimulant of retail payment innovation.
Since then, the Bank has issued the Branchless Banking Guidelines to usher into Ghana, the mobile money concept, developed a policy framework to introduce the Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) guidelines and helped pass the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987).
GNA