As competition in the mobile finance space takes a turn from a race for subscribers to appeal via innovation, Telecel Cash has launched Ghana’s maiden telco-based agnostic mobile money wallet, Telecel Wallet, primarily targeted at enabling customers of other networks to own and use Telecel Cash wallets.Â
Gone were the days when a win in the Ghana’s telecom and digital finance space was all about subscriber gain. Today there is a significant shift, where non-telco payment service providers (PSPs) with zero subscribers, have become major players in the mobile finance space by providing agnostic wallets or some other innovation not limited to any particular network.
The likes of GhanaPay, G-Money and the defunct Zeepay have owned and ran agnostic wallets in the country, while several others PSPs have, through innovation, become major players in the space without even owning and running wallets.
Telecel Cash would be the first telco-based wallet to have introduced an agnostic wallet, which means customers of MTN Ghana and AT Ghana can even own a Telecel Cash wallets in addition to their traditional wallets, using the same phone number from the other network.
At the launch of the wallet, Managing Director of Telecel Cash, Philip Amoateng noted that Telecel Wallet, which is accessible only via the TelecelPlay App, is designed to give the target customers the convenience of owning two wallets using the same phone number from any other network.
“Today if you want to own two wallets on two separate networks you need two different SIM cards. But with Telecel’s agnostic wallet, you can use your phone number on any other network to create a second wallet on Telecel without having to acquire a Telecel SIM card,” he said.
Philip Amoateng did not mince words when he stated that Telecel Wallet targets customers of the two other networks (MTN Ghana and AT Ghana), to afford them the opportunity of accessing Telecel Cash, which he said, is the most secure mobile money platform in the country.
He noted that the ultimate intent is to deepen financial inclusion, saying that in 2025, the Bank of Ghana reported that the value of transaction on digital finance platforms was about GHS4.5 trillion, but per the same report and other similar reports, only about 37% of businesses accept digital payments in Ghana.
The Telecel Cash boss said this situation presents an opportunity to deepen financial inclusion via innovation, and he beliefs that Telecel’s agnostic Wallet offers a solution to bridge that gap significantly by enabling a lot more people to own Telecel Cash wallets without necessarily purchasing Telecel SIM cards.
He therefore urged customers of other telcos to download the TelecelPlay App and create Telecel Wallets using the same phone number on the other network.
Head of Fintech and Innovation at Bank of Ghana, Owureku Asare lauded Telecel Cash for the innovation, particularly for allowing off-net phone numbers to own Telecel Cash wallets.
He was particularly impressed about the opportunities the innovation creates for MSMEs (micro, small and medium-scale enterprises) for easy digital payments, saying that “that will be a major win for financial inclusion through innovation.”
