Mobile Money (MoMo) transaction volumes and value largely took a nose dive for June 2024, according to data from the Bank of Ghana.
The total number of MoMo transactions dipped significantly from 668 million in May 2024 to 644 million in June, resulting in a GHS10.3 billion drop in value of transactions from GHS 234.3 billion to GHS 224 billion.
However, the balance of float which is the amount of money held in mobile money accounts increased marginally from GHS 21.1 billion to GHS 22.2 billion during the period under review.
This means, the performance of the mobile money ecosystem, which is determined by how many times one cedi circulates on e-money platforms – calculated by dividing value of transaction by the actual balance of float, come to 10. So, every cedi circulated at least 10 times over the one month period.
Over the period, mobile money interoperability also suffered a similar fate, as the total transaction value dropped from GHS 2.8 billion to GHS 2.7 billion, and total number of transactions also fell to 16.9 million from 17.7 million.
The drop in the use of mobile money services in the last month could be attributed to economic and regulatory factors affecting user behaviour and market dynamics amidst intensified calls for the scrapping or reduction of the E-levy rate.
Also, the total transaction value of cheques cleared through mobile money fell from GHS 33.5 billion GHS 28.2 billion recorded in May 2024.
The total number of such transactions also dropped from 494,000 to 418,000.
Interestingly, all of these happened during a period when registered and active mobile money accounts have been increasing.
The registered mobile money accounts hit 69.3 million up from the 68.7 million during the period. The active MoMo accounts went up slightly from 24.1 million to 24.4 million.
On the business side, while registered MoMo agents increased by 5000 in one month from 843,000 to 848,000, the number of active agents dropped by about 16,000 (from 567,000 to 551,000).
Per the report, the total transaction value under direct debit through Automated Clearing House (ACH) declined to GHS 208.0 million from GHS 258.7 million. The number of transactions reduced from 74,000 to 48,000.
In terms of ACH transactions (Direct Credit), the transaction value fell from GHS 10.1 billion to GHS 9.3 billion while the total number transactions fell to 745,000 from the 874,000 recorded in May this year.
