BoG pushes use of mobile money records to improve credit access

By Hubeyidatu Mumuni

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is advocating greater use of mobile money transaction histories in assessing borrowers, as part of efforts to improve access to credit for individuals and small businesses.

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, said digital transaction records contain valuable information about the financial behaviour and repayment capacity of customers.

Speaking at the Distinguished Digital Finance Lecture, Asante-Asiedu said mobile money records can show the amount of money moving through an account, savings behaviour, merchant payment activity and the consistency of income.

“That is not background information; it is a credit record. We have simply not built the habit of reading it as such,” she said.

She said a customer with an active mobile money wallet, a long transaction history and consistent savings pattern could provide lenders with useful information for determining creditworthiness.

“With an active wallet, two years of transaction history and a consistent savings pattern, her record already tells a lender most of what it needs to know about whether she will repay,” Asante-Asiedu said.

According to her, the opportunity to link transaction activity to lending already exists in some financial institutions that provide both mobile money and credit services, but the systems have not yet been sufficiently connected.

She said the Bank of Ghana’s planned open banking and open finance frameworks could help unlock the potential of transaction data to improve access to financing.

Asante-Asiedu said the next measure of financial inclusion should go beyond whether people hold bank accounts or mobile wallets to whether they can access credit, insurance and investment on fair terms when needed.