The Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Kwadwo Twum-Boafo, has raised alarm over the increasing use of mobile money platforms for illicit financial transactions in Ghana.
He explained that while tighter regulations in the banking sector have reduced suspicious activities within traditional financial institutions, they have also pushed fraudsters and money launderers toward more flexible and less regulated channels such as mobile money.
“The banks have tightened their regulations. The Fintech and Innovations Department of the Bank of Ghana and the Financial Stability Department are very strict on financial transactions.
“Indeed, what I know is that in Ghana today, you can’t give a third party a cheque of more than GHC5,000,” Mr. Twum-Boafo said.
He added that even foreign currency transfers are now subject to strict scrutiny by banks and regulators.
“As we speak, you can’t even transfer foreign currency to an individual without certain checks on the individual. So, they are very strict,” he noted.
According to him, this tightening of formal banking procedures has made mobile money services more appealing to people seeking to move funds discreetly.
“The platform that most of them use will be the mobile money platform, which is more or less virtual. As for virtual assets, it is more difficult to monitor,” he cautioned.
Mr. Twum-Boafo disclosed that the Financial Intelligence Centre has the legal and technical capacity to freeze mobile money accounts suspected of facilitating criminal activity. He emphasized, however, that this effort requires stronger collaboration and compliance from telecommunication companies that operate mobile money services.
“We are able to freeze mobile money accounts. They (Telcos) are enjoined to be compliant, but them being fully compliant, that’s another discussion for another day,” he remarked.
The FIC boss further urged telecom operators to step up their anti-money laundering (AML) measures and align more closely with national financial integrity frameworks.
Mr. Twum-Boafo commended the banking sector for maintaining high compliance standards and strict adherence to the Bank of Ghana’s financial regulations.
However, he noted that telecommunication companies still lag behind in compliance enforcement.
“I talked about the front-foot approach that we need, and they (Telcos) in particular are not in compliance as much as I would like. The banks are, but Telcos, no,” he said.
The FIC continues to monitor suspicious financial activities across Ghana’s financial ecosystem and is urging both banks and mobile money operators to maintain robust due diligence systems to protect the integrity of the country’s financial sector.
