Archie Hesse (far left), Dr John Mensah (5th left), John Gely (4th right), Patrick Appiah, regional head Anglophone West Africa, MoneyGram and other bank officials
Customers of MoneyGram can now enjoy direct money transfer services from their relatives in any part of the world to their bank accounts in Ghana, thanks to the introduction of the MoneyGram Cash to Account Direct Product yesterday in Accra.
The service, launched in partnership with ADB, is also meant to give Ghanaians abroad the opportunity to send money directly to individual bank accounts in Ghana, thus helping to deepen the financial inclusion agenda of government.
The maximum amount that can be received using this service is the local currency equivalent of $8,000 per person per month.
Dr John Kofi Mensah, Managing Director of ADB, in a welcome remark noted: “ADB is glad to be the partner bank in this new venture.”
He said ADB was the first bank in the country to introduce remittances services to its customers, and efforts have always been made by its partners, especially MoneyGram to improve and introduce innovative products for the convenience of customers.
Archie Hesse, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GhIPSS, also remarked: “We are excited that a leading global brand like MoneyGram has successfully integrated into our interbank Instant Pay platform to offer remittances to Ghanaians directly into any bank account in Ghana.”
John Gely, MoneyGram’s head for Africa, who noted that Ghana is Africa’s fifth largest remittance recipient market said: “From now on, funds from over 200 countries and territories can be sent via MoneyGram online or at any one of MoneyGram’s thousands of agent locations to reach the bank account in Ghana in minutes. The recipient receives a notification about the transfer and can access the funds either in person, online or through an ATM.”
Grant Lines, MoneyGram’s global Chief Revenue Officer, commented: “We see a potential in the increasing adoption of banking services in Ghana and want to drive financial inclusion in the region by offering our consumers more digital money transfer options. Currently, our global account deposit network consists of more than two billion bank, virtual and mobile accounts in 48 countries.”
According to the World Bank, in 2017, $2.2 billion flowed into Ghana, up 4.3 percent compared to the 2016 figure which makes the country the fifth largest remittances recipient in Africa.
The inflows come mainly from the United States ($585 million), Nigeria ($395 million), the United Kingdom ($286 million) and Italy ($145 million and Germany ($115 million).