Zeepay, Ghana’s leading non-telco mobile money operator has said that it is in discussions with the Bank of Ghana to resolve the issues regarding the recent sanctions it faced from the regulator.
The Bank of Ghana in a notice dated November 20, 2023, said it had fined Zeepay and also suspended its foreign exchange license for the period between November 27 and December 8, 2023 for violating clauses on foreign remittance in the Foreign Exchange Act.
The notice read in part “…the Bank has suspended the Forex Licence of Zeepay Ghana Limited from 27th November 2023 to 8th December 2023, for violation of sections 3(1) and 15 (3) of the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723).”
Section 3(1) of Act 723 reads “A person shall engage in the business of dealing in foreign exchange without a license issued under the Act”.
Section 15(3) states: “Each transfer of foreign exchange to or from Ghana shall be made through a person licensed to carry out the business of money transfers or any other authorized dealer”.
So, as to whether Zeepay traded forex without a license or without doing so through a licensed money transfer dealer is still not clear from the BoG’s notice.
But BoG has urged other industry players to take note of the sanctions and adhere to the rules of the game.
In response to the central bank’s notice titled “Fine and Suspension of Forex Licence of Zeepay Ghana Limited”, the FinTech, which is currently number one on Ghana Club100 said “we write to inform the general public that we are currently in discussions with the Bank of Ghana to resolve the issues raised in the Notice.”
It however, assured customers and the general public that the sanctions did not expressly affect its general operating license so it is still in operations.
Zeepay also assured the public and the entire ecosystem of its commitment to strict compliance, saying “We will ensure strict compliance with all regulations and guidelines.”
Meanwhile, Techfocus24 has been seeking to know exactly what Zeepay’s offense was but the BoG has not spelt out the specifics yet.
Whereas some industry players claim Zeepay engaged in forex trading at a higher rate than what the regulations stipulate, some also claim the rate in question was determined by a partner bank and not by Zeepay.
